


Cruel Intentions

by Nelalila



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Anal Sex, Angst, Bottom Peter Parker, Dom/sub Undertones, Fluff, Harley Keener is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Kidnapped Peter Parker, Kidnapping, M/M, Manipulative Quentin Beck, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Power Imbalance, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Sex Tapes, Social Media, Stalking, Top Tony Stark, Unrequited Love, peter is 19
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:48:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29068293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nelalila/pseuds/Nelalila
Summary: When college student and SI intern Peter Parker starts dating billionaire mastermind Tony Stark, he couldn't be any happier. That is until Tony's son Harley shows up, kicked out of college and with his eyes set on his father's secret boyfriend. Peter soon finds his relationship put to the test by the one person that could unravel his happiness, or make what he has with Tony stronger. Blinded by jealousy and resentment, Harley enlists the help of Quentin Beck to sabotage the relationship, not realizing that Beck might have cruel intentions of his own...Updated every Saturday
Relationships: Harley Keener & Peter Parker, Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Harley Keener/Peter Parker (one-sided), Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker/Tony Stark, Quentin Beck/Peter Parker (one-sided)
Comments: 341
Kudos: 422





	1. One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I started yet another story. I’ve been excited to write this one ever since I got the idea for it. I guess parts of this can be considered somewhat humorous, but there will be a lot of angst and whump as well. I will write this from Peter’s, Tony’s and Harley’s POV. Please keep in mind that this story is mostly about PETER and his relationship with Tony, and that it’s NOT Harley Keener friendly. I’m not saying he’s a “dark” character per se, but he’s a spoiled rich kid obsessing over sabotaging Peter’s relationship.  
> \--  
>  _Some more background information:_ Harley is the result of a one-night-stand between Tony and Harley’s mom. When Harley was 16, his mom died and he moved in with Tony, Pepper, and his young half-sister Morgan. Tony and Pepper divorced on good terms when Tony came out as gay a year after Morgan’s birth. Tony’s family, friends, and the public were supportive of Tony coming out.  
> \--  
> Kudos to my beta [ Gypsywoman13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gypsywoman13/pseuds/Gypsywoman13), who also helped me come up with a summary and a title <3

“Taxi-- Oh, _come on!_ ” Harley curses loudly when yet another cab drives past him without stopping. Although it’s not even rush hour yet, catching a cab from Grand Central Station has turned out to be harder than he thought. Not wanting to have to use the subway, Harley takes out his phone to call Happy.

Happy picks up after the fourth ring. “Hey, kiddo,” he says, sounding surprised. “How’re you doing?”

“Hey,” Harley says tersely. “Can you pick me up from Grand Central?”

“Grand Central?” Happy repeats astonished. “Are you coming home? Tony hasn’t said a thing.”

Harley chuckles. “That’s because he doesn’t know yet. I, um, want to surprise him. Can you pick me up?”

“Yes, sure… when are you gonna be there?”

“I already am. Call me when you’re here, I’m going to grab a coffee. Thanks.”

Without waiting for a response, Harley ends the call and walks back into the station. Twenty minutes later he climbs into Happy’s car, asking to be chauffeured to Stark Industries. 

“Tony has a bunch of appointments until 5:15 p.m., so I don’t know if he has time to receive you,” Happy says, glancing at him in the rearview mirror. 

Harley shrugs his shoulders. “I’m sure he’ll have a minute to spare for his only son.” Winking, he leans back and takes out his phone to open Instagram, seeing that he has two thousand likes on his coffee post so far… that’s definitely improvable for someone with almost five hundred thousand followers. Sure, some of his followers might only follow him because he’s Tony Stark’s son, but Harley doesn’t care about that too much. Now that he doesn’t have to worry about college anymore - at least not for the time being - he can finally dedicate his time and energy into becoming a successful influencer. 

Twenty minutes later Harley struts into the lobby of Stark Industries, insisting to walk over to the front desk and greeting some of the employees he’s known for years. When Harley was younger, Tony and him spent half of their father-son-weekends down in the lab to tinker with robots. Once Harley started going to high school, however, he’d rather hang out with his friends than spend all his leisure time with his dad.

Approaching Nancy Perkins at the first desk, Harley catches sight of a cute boy standing at the other end of the fifty feet long reception. The boy seems to be laughing over something Theo Gibbins, one of the other employees, said to him before he turns to go straight towards the elevators. Harley doesn’t realize he has been staring after the boy until Nancy clears her throat. 

“Mr. Keener?”

“Hm?” Harley turns to look at her. “Sorry, I-- Do you know who that was?” He jerks his head towards the elevators. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him around before.”

Nancy’s lips curl into a smile. “The boy who was talking to Theo? His name is Peter Parker. He’s an intern. He started working here about… two months ago. He’s a sweet kid.”

Harley turns his head to take one last look at the elevators, but the boy - _Peter_ \- is nowhere to be seen anymore. “Can you tell me which department he works in?”

“Um… sure,” Nancy says, typing something into her computer. “Oh, yes, R&D.”

 _So he’s working with Quentin… perfect._ “Sweet, thanks.” Harley flashes her a charming smile. After exchanging a few words with the desk clerks, Harley takes the elevator all the way up to the management floor. Natasha Romanoff, Tony’s personal assistant, tells him that his father’s next appointment is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

“Great, thanks,” Harley says, moving towards his father’s office. Twenty minutes will be enough...

“He still said he doesn’t want to be disturbed.”

“I’m sure that doesn’t apply to me.” Ignoring Natasha’s outraged expression, Harley reaches out to grab the door handle. At the last second he changes his mind and knocks. Yet he’s barely waited five seconds before he pushes the door open. “Hi!”

“I told you not to-- _Harley?_ ” Tony’s sitting in his office chair, making a weird, fast movement with his hands. He’s gaping at his son, his cheeks unusually red. “W-What, um… what are you doing here?” 

Frowning at how flustered his father looks, Harley closes the door behind him. “Long story,” he chuckles nervously. His heart is pounding rapidly in his chest as he walks towards his father’s desk, knowing there’s no sense in hiding the truth from him. _He just needs to get it over with._

Tony rolls forward in the chair, closing the gap between his stomach and his desk. “Look, um, how about you let me finish something real quick and then we, um, grab a coffee? I really need to--”

“They kicked me out of MIT,” Harley says hastily. He drops into one of the chairs in front of Tony’s desk, bumping his knees at the visual cover reaching from the table top almost all the way to the floor.

For a few seconds Tony just stares at him, his eyes widening in shock. “They did _what_?”

Harley swallows thickly. “They kicked me out, but it’s not my fault. They, um… Well, some of my classmates got caught selling midterm exam papers on campus, and… they basically claimed that _I_ had hacked some of the school’s computers to obtain and sell the papers to students. Which I would _never_ do.”

Tony grits his teeth. “Harley, excuse me for saying this, but they wouldn’t kick you out if they didn't--"

"You know how jealous some of my classmates are of me," Harley huffs. "They don’t like me because I’m your son and because I’m smarter than them. Ten fucking students falsely accused me of doing it, and I wasn’t able to provide an alibi, so to speak. Everyone on campus knows that I theoretically have the skills for it, so there was nothing I could have done to prove my innocence."

"They still can't--" 

"The school also found some drugs when they searched my dorm room," Harley mumbles so quietly it was barely audible. 

Grabbing the edge of the table Tony leans forward, growling, "What kind of drugs?" 

"Nothing serious. Just… some weed and some MDMA." 

" _Nothing serious?_ " Tony hisses, an angry vein popping out of his forehead. "Are you out of your goddamn mind?"

"Well, it's not heroin or methamphetam--" 

"I don't fucking believe you." Tony buries his face in his hands. For a few seconds they are both silent before Tony asks, voice more worrisome than angry now, "Are you dealing with drugs? Are you doing them yourself?" 

"No," Harley quickly says. "I smoked some of the weed and took two pills for a party, but that’s it, I swear. One of the guys I hooked up with gave them to me. The school believed me on this, which is why they agreed on not alerting the cops if I left campus immediately."

Sighing deeply, Tony flashes Harley an exhausted look. "All right, let's talk at home, okay?" 

"Actually, I was hoping you'd let me borrow the jet. After all this stress I could really use a vacation, and I've been thinking--"

"Absolutely not." Tony's face hardens. "You’re not _going on vacation_ for getting kicked out of school. You’re going to work your ass off so they’ll accept you back in the fall.”

Harley leans back, folding his arms in front of him. “What if I don’t want to go back? I know you have a low opinion of Social Media and stuff, but I have five hundred thousand followers on Instagram. Do you know how much money I could make with one single promotion? I already got in contact with a beach resort down in Miami Beach. If I go there _today_ and tag them in a few posts, they will let me sleep there for free and pay me ten thousand dollars on top of that. I know it sucks that they kicked me out, but this is my chance to follow my dream.”

When Harley’s done, a muscle in Tony’s face twitches. “Your _dream_? I thought your dream was to take over this company one day?”

Harley shrugs his shoulders. “I mean, yeah, but I’m only twenty years old and I expect you to be working for at least twenty more years. So until you retire, I could focus on building my career as an influencer.”

Once more, Tony sighs deeply. “Look, son... You know I would never tell you _not_ to follow your dreams, but I won’t let you throw away your education just so you can fly around the globe and upload photos on Instabook, and TikTube and what not. Once you’re done with college I don’t care what you do, but as long as you’re living off of _my_ money, I expect you to at least _try_ to do your best. I’m not saying you can’t do your ‘influenza’ thing as a _hobby_ , but first, and foremost, you need to focus on your education. Without a proper education and _years_ of experience in business and engineering, there’s _no chance_ you could ever take over this company.”

“But they _kicked me out_ ,” Harley groans exasperated. “And you don't even know if they will allow me to come back.”

“I’ll give them a call,” Tony says. “There needs to be a way for you to continue your studies. And even if their decision is final, you could still apply for another college... maybe even in New York. I happen to know that ESU offers a major in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.”

“But… it’s March. Even if they let me go back, the next semester won’t start until September.”

“Then there’s plenty of time for you to do something useful and earn your own money for once,” Tony growls, leaning forward. “You’re gonna start working here tomorrow. Full time.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Harley hisses, seething when Tony chuckles.

“Then you will have to do a _lot_ of those promotions, because _I_ most certainly won’t pay for your trip to Miami... Or let you live in a multimillion dollar penthouse, _or_ a mansion in the Hamptons.” When his son just glares at him, Tony sighs again. “Look… I know you’re an adult, Harley, but you still have a _lot_ of growing up to do. There are boys and girls your age, who have a shit ton of responsibilities to shoulder. Who also work their asses off in order to afford college and to support their families. You haven’t worked a single day in your life, and although I’ll gladly provide you with anything to make sure you’re living well, there’s a time when you need to take some responsibility. And that time has come.”

“Fine,” Harley snaps, jumping up. “Whatever. I’ll do it _my_ way then.” With big steps he’s walking towards the door. Before he wrenches it open, he turns around again. “All of my stuff is still at MIT. _Please_ be so kind and hire some guys to bring it back to the penthouse. _Thank you_.”

* * *

As soon as the door falls shut, Tony lets out a frustrated groan. He’s biting down on his bottom lip when he peeks under the table, looking guilty. “You okay down there?”

“Sure,” Peter mumbles, glad to be finally able to crawl out of the narrow space. “But there’s a spider living under your pedestal. I’ve never struggled so hard to contain a scream.” Groaning, he stretches his aching back, only to blush deeply when Tony stands up as well to finally tuck himself back into his pants. “Do you think he… noticed anything?”

“I hardly doubt it,” Tony snorts. “Trust me, if my son had seen me sitting there with my dick hanging out of my pants, he would’ve said something. Sorry you had to listen to that.”

Peter smiles sheepishly. “It’s okay. Actually, _I’m_ sorry that I was… eavesdropping, kinda. I mean… I’m sure your son had meant for that to be a private conversation.”

“Well, I couldn’t have possibly told him that he’d just interrupted my intern in finishing his blowjob,” Tony snorts, flashing Peter an affectionate smile. “I guess this was a stupid idea to begin with. Thanks for wanting to help me relax between my meetings, though.”

Blushing, Peter nods. “You’re welcome. Um. I should probably get going, it’s 3:25 already. Good luck for your next meeting.”

“Thanks, baby,” Tony says softly, lifting a hand to caress Peter’s left cheek. “You really make my life a lot more exciting, you know that?”

Peter laughs. “That was a little _too_ exciting for my liking. Should I… make it up to you in the evening?” Smiling seductively, Peter wraps his hands around Tony’s neck. “I’m having my midweek dinner with May tonight, but I could drop by later.”

“Fuck yes,” Tony whispers, letting his hand slide down Peter’s back. Tilting his head back Peter stands on his tiptoes to kiss Tony, but after only a few seconds the man already breaks the kiss. “Shit.”

“What?” Peter asks, barely able to resist from grinding himself against Tony. 

“ _Harley_. I doubt he’ll actually fly to Miami in a commercial plane, so he’s most likely gonna be home. And I should really talk to him, but… hm, maybe we can see each other tomorrow? I could sleep over at your place for once.”

Heat flashes up to the nape of Peter’s neck. Tony had only been in his apartment _once,_ and that was four weeks ago when he dropped him off after a date, feeling the desperate need to use a toilet. Tony had made such a fuss about the mold-infested ceiling in the bathroom, that Peter has sworn himself to never let him set one foot into his apartment ever again. 

“It’s fine, um… how about the weekend? If he stays in the penthouse, maybe we could go to the Hamptons? You said you wanted to show me that for a while now anyways.”

“I wish I could,” Tony sighs, pulling away from Peter. “It’s _that_ kind of weekend this week, so… it could be a while until we see each other again.”

 _That kind of weekend_ … Meaning that Morgan would be spending it with her dad. “Oh… okay, yeah, sure,” Peter mumbles, nodding understandingly. 

Another knock on the door makes them flinch. “Tony, they’re all waiting for you downstairs,” Natasha’s muffled voice comes from behind the door.

“Coming,” Tony shouts, leaning down to give Peter one last kiss. “Call you later. Wait a minute before you walk outta here, okay? I’m gonna take Nat down with me.”

“Okay. Bye.”

To make sure Natasha wouldn’t see him if she peered into the room, Peter hides behind the table once more to wait with bated breath for the minute to pass. _That really was a close one earlier._ Peter dreads to think what would have happened if Harley had actually caught sight of his father, getting blown by a boy one year younger than Harley himself.

Ever since Peter and Tony started screwing-slash-dating two months ago, they’ve tried to avoid bringing up the fact that Tony has children, especially a grown-up son, as much as possible. Although neither of them cares about the big age gap between them ~~(Peter actually thinks it’s _hot_ )~~, there’s no point in denying that there’s a difference between _knowing_ it and _being made painfully aware_ of it. 

Sighing, Peter eventually gets up, walking up to the door on tiptoes. He opens it very slowly, and only once he’s sure that there’s nobody bustling around the antechamber of Tony’s office, he dares to relax. 

Two minutes later Peter steps out of the elevator on the fifteenth floor, heading straight towards the R&D department. Just when Peter turns around the corner leading to the offices, he sees Quentin Beck, his supervisor, standing in the middle of the corridor, talking to none other than Harley Keener. Like a scalded cat, Peter ducks back behind the corner and presses himself flat against the wall. Did they see him? _What is Harley doing down here?_ Does he know Beck? He _is_ one of Tony’s most trusted employees, so maybe--

Peter snaps out of his distressing thoughts when Thomas Pattinson, one of his colleagues, walks by, flashing him a puzzled look. “You okay?” he asks, raising his brows.

Grinning stupidly, Peter nods. Without hesitation he hurries off, fleeing into the bathroom on the other side of the corridor. _Dear god._ Cursing himself for being so paranoid, Peter decides to wait a few minutes and actually use the toilet. If Tony’s sure that Harley didn’t see him, there’s no point in running away from him and acting all weird. 

Urging himself to act _normal_ , Peter eventually walks back towards the offices. Fortunately, Beck and Harley seem to have left, and when Peter can’t find Beck in his office either, Peter returns to his designated workstation to get some actual work done. 

An hour later Peter’s phone vibrates, signalling the income of a message. It’s Ned, sending him a stupid Star Wars meme. After sending him back a couple of emojis, Peter notices the Instagram notification at the top of his screen. He moves his thumb to slide it down, gasping when he reads: _‘harleykeener2000 sent you a follow request.’_

So much for dodging a bullet earlier… _They are fucking screwed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m afraid this chapter wasn’t too exciting, but I hope you still liked it. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think this has been done before (?), so I’m really excited about writing more. Please let me know what you think of the concept 💕


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While having a talk with his son, Tony finds out something shocking. Harley tries to gather more information about Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thaaank you Gypsywoman13 for beta-reading 💕💕

“Wowowow, slow down,” Tony chuckles, pressing the button to pull up the divider between the driver seat and the back seat. “Harley did what?”

“He sent me a follow request on Instagram,” Peter says, sounding flustered.

Frowning, Tony presses the phone more firmly against his ear. “Okay, I have no idea what that means, but… Does that mean he knows your name? How?”

“Why do you think I’m freaking out? Tony, he _must_ have seen me. And then he probably asked Miss Romanoff or Mr. Beck about who could possibly be so insolent and suck you off in your office in the middle of the day. They all know you personally hired me, after all, and they know I’ve been up at your office so often, so they probably made the connection and told everyone else, and--”

“Ssh, baby, slow down,” Tony repeats, feeling a comforting warmth running through his veins. Peter’s anxious rambling is too adorable. “I told you, there’s no way he saw you without letting me know. I don’t know how he found out your name, but maybe Beck told him about the cute intern turning everyone’s head in the department.”

He chuckles softly, but Peter just huffs. “Very funny. Can you please take me seriously?”

“Of course, baby, I’m sorry. Did he attach a message, a note or something to that request?”

“It doesn’t work like that.” 

Peter quickly explains how Instagram works, but Tony isn’t sure if he understood everything. “So, your profile is private, which means Harley can’t see your pictures, and he also didn’t send you a message to ask who you are. Then how could he even know that this is ‘you’ if you don’t even have your name in your profile?” 

“That’s what makes it even spookier,” Peter says desperately. “I have no idea how he could’ve even found me, unless Instagram suggested my profile to him for some reason, or-- _Oh_ … Mark and Daisy, the other two interns at R&D… they tagged me in a selfie the three of us took last week. Maybe he knows them and saw it on their profile?”

“Aah. There you have it, mystery solved,” Tony states matter of factly. “He probably sent that request because he thinks he knows you from somewhere. No big deal.” To prevent Peter from getting worked up about it even more, Tony then asks about his day and what he was working on.

Thirty minutes later, Tony arrives at the penthouse, finding his son sprawled out on the couch with his phone. Even though he loves to have Harley around, Tony can’t help being upset about his earlier behavior. Thanks to Peter, he now knows how much some kids appreciate their chance to get a decent education at a good college and how hard they work to make sure they don’t waste it. 

“I thought you were going to Miami?” Tony asks in a somewhat provocative voice, sitting down on the other side of the couch.

Without taking his eyes off his phone, Harley says, “I changed my mind. Happy told me Morgan’s gonna be here for the weekend, so I thought I’d stay and spend some time with her.” Then, Harley finally puts his phone away. “Also, I was thinking about what you said, and… I want to offer you a deal.”

Tony raises his brows. “A _deal?_ ”

Harley nods. “Yeah. Let’s say, if I make myself ‘useful’ until May _and_ if I promise to do everything in my power to go back to college next fall, then you’ll let me travel with my friends during the summer. And I get to live here for as long as I want.”

“Does this mean you’re going to start working at the firm tomorrow?”

“Actually, I have a _better_ idea,” Harley says, smirking confidently when Tony narrows his eyes to slits. “I’m gonna do charity for the Stark Industries Childcare Foundation. I already--”

“No.”

“What?”

“ _No_ ,” Tony repeats. “Don’t take me as an idiot, Harley. Just because I don’t do Social Media doesn’t mean that I have no idea how PR works. You can work for the Stark Industries Childcare Foundation _in your free time_ , and _only_ if you promise that you’re not just doing it to try and make yourself look good.”

“Wow, that’s pretty… selfish of you, you know?” Harley snarls. “I happen to have a lot of followers who don’t care about you or your company, and who only follow me because they like _me_. So if I posted about working for your charity, it’d get free publicity and more donations. I could actually charge you a few thousand bucks for a post, you know that?”

“Yeah, because that’s what charity is all about,” Tony scoffs, shaking his head in disbelief. He loves his son with every inch of his heart, but he can’t help thinking he might have spoiled him too much. _Which… means that it’s not Harley’s fault, is it?_ Tony hasn’t exactly been living a modest life either, and who should be Harley’s role model, if not him?

Sighing, Tony decides to make an effort. “Okay. How about this: You come to work with me tomorrow and Friday. If you're giving your best, then you only have to work Tuesday till Thursday for the next couple of months. On Monday and Friday, you’ll either do your charity work or study. Deal?”

Harley thinks about it for a few moments before he sighs deeply. “Fine. What about the summer, though?”

“No promises. I mean, it’s not like I can prevent you from going on vacation, but if you want my money for it, you gotta work hard until then. All right?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Harley says dismissively, grabbing the remote to turn on the TV.

Although the atmosphere is still somewhat tense at dinner, they’re warming up to one another once Harley asks how Morgan and Pepper are doing, and wants to know what major projects Stark Industries is working on right now. 

After discussing a new special VR system the firm has in development, Harley asks with marked casualty, “So, I heard you personally hired a new intern for R&D?”

The grip Tony has on his glass of wine tightens. “I hire a lot of interns throughout the year.”

“Well, yeah, but Quentin said you hired him _personally_. Like, without the usual application process.”

The way Harley is grinning makes Tony’s stomach churn. _He knows._ Peter was right… “All right, let’s cut to the chase,” Tony growls, barely able to keep the anger out of his voice. “Why don’t you ask me what you really want to know?”

“Hey, no need to get all mad,” Harley says, brows furled together in confusion. “I’m just asking _you_ because Quentin said you’re working with him a lot. And since Quentin doesn't know, I was hoping you might be able to tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“Whether he’s gay or not.”

 _Wait, what?_ Tony needs a few seconds to comprehend what Harley just asked him. _Does this mean he didn’t see them after all?_ “Wait, when… where do you even know Peter from?”

“I saw him down in the lobby after Happy had dropped me off.”

Tony almost sighs a breath of relief. “Oh… Um, but… Why would you-- I mean, why do you want to know if Peter’s gay?”

What Harley says next pulls the rug out from Tony’s feet. “Because he’s cute, duh. I would like to get to know him better, if you know what I mean.” There’s a smirk playing on Harley’s lips that leaves little to nothing to imagination. 

_Oh god… please no…_ Tony’s mouth feels dry, so he swallows a few times before he says, “He... is gay, actually, but he, um, has a boyfriend.”

Harley widens his eyes a little. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Absolutely,” Tony clears his throat. “And he’s very happy, from what I’ve heard.”

Harley shrugs his shoulders. “Well, I don’t see how that’s my problem. Actually, we’ll find out just _how_ ‘happy’ he is once I’m sliding into his DMs, since I’m pretty sure I’m hotter than his boyfriend. Not to mention _richer_.” Laughing, Harley throws his head back.

Tony shudders. _Sliding into his DMs?_ What in the world is that supposed to mean? “Harley… You shouldn’t-- I mean, whenever Peter talks about the guy he’s seeing, his eyes are _shining_. Besides, I don’t want you pining after my interns. It would only create unnecessary drama.” 

Harley rolls his eyes. “I’m not _pining_ after anyone. I just think he’s cute, that’s all. Also, it’s his problem if he ends up ditching his oh-so-beloved boyfriend for the chance of hooking up with a good-looking rich guy. Deep down, they’re all the same. Something you should know yourself, judging by your countless affairs before you married Pepper.” Winking, Harley gets up from the table, throwing his napkin onto his empty plate. “Good night.”

Tony keeps on sitting there for a few more minutes, speechless. _This is bad. This is_ really _bad._ Should he tell Peter about Harley’s intentions? However, only a second later, Tony already rejects the idea. He doesn’t want to betray Harley’s trust, and he doesn’t want to freak Peter out either. Tony cares about him a _lot_ , even more so than Peter knows…

If they ever want to turn their fling into something more serious, they will have to tell Tony’s children eventually. And then, it would be _extremely_ awkward for everyone involved if Peter knew that Harley thought of him as ‘cute’ when he first saw him. Which, to be fair, is… pretty reasonable. Peter _is_ a very cute kid. Also, in contrast to Tony, Harley actually is Peter’s age. Really, this should only be awkward as hell for _Tony_ , not for Harley. 

As he’s putting the plates away, Tony reassures himself not to mention anything about this to anyone. _Ever._ Sometime next week he’ll talk to Peter about _them_ , and if it turns out that Peter feels the same way about Tony as Tony does about him, he will suggest telling Harley. Once his son finds out that Tony and Peter are dating, Harley’s interest in Peter will fade as quickly as it came.

Tony’s sure of that.

* * *

When Harley flings himself onto his bed, he immediately checks his phone. To his displeasure, Peter still hasn’t accepted his follow request. Maybe he hasn’t been online yet... which is pretty likely, considering Peter doesn’t seem to be very active on the platform. He only has about 150 followers and 52 posts... 

Finding Peter’s Instagram account wasn’t nearly as hard as Harley had feared. A Google search for ‘peter parker stark industries’ quickly led him to a tweet on Peter’s public Twitter account, which has the same name as Peter’s Instagram profile. In the tweet, Peter was freaking out over landing an internship at SI. Then, from some of his older tweets, Harley found out a few more things about the boy, like the fact that Peter used to work at a coffee shop until January; that he’s a sophomore at ESU, and that he used to run a YouTube channel with his friend ‘Ned Leeds’, called _‘Lords of the Stones’_. 

Since Harley still can’t look at Peter’s Instagram profile, he decides to watch some of his four-year-old _Lego unboxing_ and _science experiments_ videos instead. The videos only have about a hundred views each, and, judging by the bad quality, Harley assumes they were using cheap camera equipment. The comments and rating functions are turned off, indicating that Peter and his friend didn’t want to risk anyone making fun of them. Harley can’t really blame them-- the videos are pretty cringeworthy. 

And yet, the longer Harley watches the videos the wider his grin becomes. Peter might be awkward, but he’s also fucking adorable. In fact, Peter is so _adorkable_ that the idea that he has a boyfriend is _absurd_. Though on the other hand, Harley assumes that his boyfriend might be just as shy and nerdy as Peter is. They probably haven’t even been dating for long, and most likely aren’t even that serious... 

The thought that Peter could still be a virgin made Harley’s cock twitch. Even though he has never dated - or even fucked - outside of his league before, he knows he needs to have Peter… needs to have him moaning underneath him, begging to get touched, crying out Harley’s name as he's fucked into oblivion… 

_Shit_. With a groan, Harley pauses the video and unzips his fly, reaching inside his pants to wrap his fingers around his throbbing erection. He doesn’t remember when - or if - he’s ever been so infatuated with a guy before that he has only briefly seen once, but there’s a sweetness and innocence radiating from Peter’s puppy eyes that leaves Harley hungry for more.

On the next day, Harley drags his ass out of bed at 7:30 a.m. and joins his father in the kitchen for breakfast. “Getting up so early should be forbidden,” he yawns, looking at his notifications. Peter still hasn’t accepted his follow request… goddammit. _Should he just send him a DM anyways?_

“Don’t act like you never went to high school,” Tony snorts, taking a sip of his coffee while flipping through the business section of the New York Times.

“Well, in Boston it only took me about ten minutes to get from the sorority house to my classes, so I barely ever got up before nine.”

"Yet another reason why a few months of work won't hurt you even one bit," Tony says dryly. 

A little more than an hour later Harley and Tony are in the firm, taking the elevator up to the twentieth floor. "Why can't I work in R&D?" Harley complains. "You know I like Bruce, but I'd rather work with Quentin. I mean, he’s the one I used to hang out with whenever you brought me to work, but had to attend a meeting or something." 

"Yeah, sure," Tony snorts, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I told you, I don't want you to be… all weird around Peter or any of the other interns down there. You are here to _work_ , not to _flirt_." 

Cursing himself for mentioning Peter to his father in the first place, Harley begrudgingly accepts his fate. Bruce works in a very interesting department, and since he’s known the man ever since he was a young boy, he assumes that it could be worse. And yet, Harley eagerly awaits his lunch break, not even bothering to grab something to eat. Instead, he goes down to R&D, glad to find Quentin in his office.

“Harley,” the man’s lips twitch into a wary smile when Harley sits down in the chair opposite of Quentin’s desk. “I didn’t think you’d be back so soon… Are you working here now?” It’s clear that Quentin tried to crack a joke, so he frowns when Harley nods.

“As it turns out, I am,” Harley sighs heavily, leaning back. “I wasn’t completely honest with you yesterday. I wasn’t just home for a few days. I’m… actually taking a break from college altogether.”

“Why are you taking a break?”

Harley hesitates; should he tell Quentin the truth? After all, he’s been a family friend for about seven years now, but… no. He didn’t tell Bruce the truth either. “Because I don’t really get along with some of my professors, not to mention the students. I just felt like taking a few months off and focusing on my influencer career. Unfortunately, dad disagrees with me, so he kinda forced me to work here now.”

“I see,” Quentin says, folding his arms in front of his chest. “Who are you working with?”

“Doctor Banner. I mean, he’s like… an uncle to me, but you’re my _friend_. I’d rather work down here with you.”

Quentin hums. “If you want, I could talk to Tony and try to convince him that we need some additional help with a project.”

Harley is barely able to contain from grinning smugly. “Really?” he asks, trying to sound surprised. “You’d do that for me? Aw, that’s really nice of you. That would be _really_ great. Just tell him that you found out I'm working here now and that you could use my help. But... I don’t want him to think I asked you to do this.”

“No worries.” Quentin flashes him a bittersweet smile. “I won’t mention that we spoke.”

Beaming, Harley gets up. “Sweet. Now, I think I’m gonna grab something to eat. Thanks a lot, and... have a nice day.”

He’s almost at the door when Quentin asks, “Have you figured it out yet?”

“Have I figured what out?” Harley turns to look at Quentin, brows pinched together in confusion.

“If Peter’s the guy you hooked up with last summer.”

 _Oh._ Harley can feel heat flashing up his neck. When he asked Quentin a few questions about Peter yesterday, including his sexuality, the man got a little suspicious and started asking why Harley was so interested. Not wanting to reveal his infatuation in case Peter wasn’t into guys, Harley claimed that he had seen him swiftly in the lobby and was wondering whether he was the boy Harley had hooked up with at a party in summer. 

“Oh, um, no. I mean, _yes_ , dad told me he’s gay and all, but he’s not the boy I hooked up with. Thank god. That would’ve been awkward, considering we’re both working here now, wouldn’t it?” Harley let out a fake laugh. “Well, I gotta get going. Bye.”

But instead of leaving the department straight away, Harley casually strolls by the office Peter’s supposed to work in. Without shame, he sticks his head in, cursing inwardly when Peter’s desk is once again empty. “Hey, you,” he addresses the young co-worker working at the desk opposite of Peter’s. “Where’s the intern? Peter Parker?”

“And you are?” the guy responds in a dragging voice, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

“Harley Keener,” Harley snarls, squaring his shoulders. “And you better answer me if you don’t want me to report you for snapping at your boss’s son.” 

The guy turns white. “O-Oh, um, I’m sorry, Mr. Keener. I didn’t-- Um, Peter only works Monday, as well as Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. Can I take a message for him or… can I help you, maybe?” 

_Dammit_. Without another word, Harley spins around and leaves the office. Admittedly, he shouldn’t have expected Peter to be working here every day, considering he was a sophomore in college. Seems like he will have to wait until next week. For a split second Harley considers hacking into the staff database to look up Peter’s contact data, but that seems a little _extreme_. After all, he already sent him a follow request, and he’s still Tony’s son, meaning that Peter might know very well who Harley is. Therefore, casually jogging by his apartment or dorm would be a little suspicious.

No, he’s gonna do this the right way. Maybe it’s good that Peter hasn’t accepted his follow request just yet. If Peter really thinks he’s happy with his boyfriend, Harley should be careful and not outright hit on him. It might be a lot better if they meet each other at work, maybe have a casual lunch or two, and then invite him to a party Harley’s gonna throw in the penthouse. Considering how shy Peter seems, a few sips of alcohol will surely help him loosen up...

With an excited grin, Harley opens Instagram and cancels his follow request. 

_Let the_ ~~_hunt_~~ _games begin._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, Harley is SUCH A BRAT lmao. I had so many plans for this chapter, but if I’d squeezed all of that in, this would’ve gotten way too long. Hope you're all in for a veeeery long project 🙈 The next chapter will focus on Peter again, promise <3 Actually, since Deprivation is now over, this might take the Saturday spot if I’m motivated enough 💕


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After talking about their feelings, Tony and Peter make a momentous decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many kudos to my dear beta Gypsywoman13 💕

Peter is in an extraordinarily good mood when he arrives at work on Monday. He had a great weekend, there’s no exams coming up, and – most importantly – he’ll finally see Tony again. The past two months have been nothing less than incredible, and Peter’s so incredibly happy that it occasionally scares him. It’s just… sometimes, all of what’s been happening with Tony seems too good to be true… Almost like a dream that Peter’s doomed to wake up from one day. After all, the story of how they met couldn't be more Hollywood-style. 

They like to joke that it has to be fate that made Tony’s car break down right in front of a small, run-down coffee shop on 21st street in Queens during a stormy January evening. Due to the snow storm, Tony failed to catch a taxi, dooming him to wait for the towing service. Since it was freezing cold outside, Tony eventually decided to grab a cup of coffee and warm up.

Peter, who was working the late shift that evening, almost fainted on the spot when one of the most famous CEOs in the _world_ walked up to the counter to order a caffé latte. Peter was so agitated that he somehow managed to spill the coffee all over Tony’s jacket and pants when he served it to him.

Up to this day, Peter still blushes in shame when he remembers the nervous breakdown he suffered after it had happened, ~~sobbing and~~ apologizing over and over again. In fact, Peter was so panicky about burning a celebrity and ruining his expensive clothes that Tony ended up having to _comfort him_. Despite Tony’s nice behavior, Peter spent the whole night crying, thinking he’d most likely get fired the next day and lose his apartment. But Tony didn't file a complaint. Instead, he came back to the shop a day later, asking whether _Peter was feeling better already._ Tony later admitted that he’d become infatuated with Peter the second he saw him, and that he - despite their age difference - couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing him again. 

So, they ended up sharing a coffee during Peter’s break. Tony was deeply impressed when he found out that Peter was studying Biochemics and Biophysics at ESU. After talking for half an hour, he ended up offering him a job at Stark Industries. Peter started at the firm the following week, and even though Tony desperately tried to resist the temptation, he asked Peter out to dinner only two days later.

And then, one thing quickly led to another. The following morning, Peter found himself waking up in Tony’s bed, embarrassed, yet overly excited and happy. Even though he tried to hide the fact that he’d never had sex before, Tony saw through it right away, making sure to be extraordinarily careful and gentle.

Smiling like an idiot at the memory of their first night, Peter arrives at the antechamber to Tony’s office. “Morning, Miss Romanoff,” he says cheerfully, placing a small Tupperware box on her desk. 

“Morning, Pete.” Smiling, she points at the box. “What’s that?”

“My aunt made me some muffins, but there’s so many left that I thought I’d bring you some as well. You did say chocolate muffins are your guilty pleasure, right?”

“Aww,” she coos affectionately. “That’s _so_ sweet of you, but you shouldn’t–”

“No buts,” Peter grins, walking towards Tony’s office door. “Enjoy.”

After knocking, he enters the office. Tony’s beaming at him from his desk, and as soon as he stands up, Peter closes the door and _runs_ up to him. Not caring how corny it is, he jumps into Tony’s arms, flinging his arms around him. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, baby,” Tony sighs and leans forward to kiss him, almost desperately licking into his mouth. Now that Peter’s thinking of it, they’ve never spent four days without seeing each other. Even when it’s _that_ kind of weekend, they usually try to spend either the night from Thursday to Friday together, or the night from Sunday to Monday. _Or both._

Peter can feel his cock twitching as Tony carries him over to his desk and puts him down. The man leaves a trail of kisses on Peter’s mouth and cheek, his teeth grazing his jawline–

"Tony," Peter gasps, jerking his hips forward. "S-Stop, please." 

Grinning smugly, Tony grabs Peter’s chin, squeezing gently. "Stop? Are you sure?" he grins wider, teasingly rubbing their clothed erections together.

 _No._ "Y-Yes," Peter chokes out, whimpering feebly when Tony carefully bites down on his bottom lip and sucks it into his own mouth.

The ringing of Tony's office phone snaps the engineer out of the moment. For a second, he furrows his brows in confusion, as though he only just remembered _where_ they are, but then he curses and pulls away. He leans around Peter to answer the phone, which causes their crotches to press together even more firmly. 

Peter’s needy gasp is drowned out by Tony barking into the receiver, “Yes? Oh… yes, sure… When? … Mhm. Yes, okay. Thanks. Bye.” With a sigh, Tony hangs up, muttering, ‘Such a buzzkill’ under his breath. Finally, he looks at Peter, cupping his left cheek. “I’m receiving Justin Hammer in fifteen minutes. I’m afraid we have to postpone this.”

“All right,” Peter mumbles, blushing. “Actually, I haven’t even been down in the office yet. And… after what happened last time…” Voice trailing off, he anxiously glances at Tony. Even though they texted during the weekend, they avoided the topic. “Is Harley still home?” 

Nodding, Tony takes a step back. “Yup. He’ll be here until the summer, at least. He agreed to work at the firm from Tuesday to Thursday. In return, I promised he can stay in the penthouse.”

Peter’s face falls. “Oh. Um. Does that mean we– I mean, when are we going to… hang out again?”

Tony doesn’t look at him as he awkwardly shifts from one foot to the other. “Actually… I wanted to talk to you about that and… um, _us_. How about you come up here once you’re done with work, and then we–”

“O-Oh god,” Peter whispers, heart clenching. His chest tightens as panic starts to build up inside of him, and his mouth feels dry. “D-Do you want to br– stop seeing me?” Actually, the words prickling on his tongue were ‘break up with me’, but since they aren’t even officially dating it would’ve felt wrong to call it that. 

“What? No, of course not,” Tony says, vehemently shaking his head. His pupils dilate when he glances up, noticing the tears forming in Peter’s eyes. “No, baby… oh my god, no.” Lips curling into a soft smile, Tony caresses Peter’s cheek. “Trust me, that would be the last thing I want.”

Barely daring to gain hope, Peter swallows thickly. His voice is still raspy when he says, “Why do you want to talk about us, then?”

Tony hesitates. “Well, I– all right, let’s do it now. The past two months were _amazing_ , and you’ve made me happier than I could’ve ever imagined. Aw, please don’t cry, my precious boy.” He makes a pause to wipe away a tear that escaped Peter’s right eye. “As I said, you made me _very_ happy, and although I really enjoyed what we’ve had, with Harley being back, I don’t think we can continue like this.”

Peter has never been more confused in his life. The longer Tony speaks, the more it actually sounds like a break-up. “S-So you… want to take a break?” _That’s hardly better than a break-up..._

Once again, Tony shakes his head. “No, baby, I want– Okay, remember when you asked me what this… ‘thing’ between us was? And that I said that there’s no need to label anything? That we should just enjoy what we had without stressing out about it?”

“Yes, but– Wait, do you want to… label it now?”

Tony chuckles softly. “What I want, is _you_. But I’m not sure if you feel the same way. I mean, I know you want me _right now_ , but... I’m talking about what you want _in the long run_. So, if you think that you won’t get tired of me in the next couple of months, then I think we should tell our families about us.”

It takes Peter’s overwhelmed brain a few seconds to process what Tony suggested. “You want to tell our _families?_ That we’re… fucking?”

“No, sunshine. I want to tell them that we’re _dating_ ,” Tony smiles. “I really, _really_ like you, Pete, and while I don’t think we should go public - at least not yet - I want to share our happiness with our families. Then, we could finally stop hiding from them and stop worrying they might find out. So, what do you say?”

“W-What do I say?” Peter can’t believe it. “Tony, this is more that I could’ve ever hoped for. The fact that you want to tell your children about me– Are you _sure_ about this?”

“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.” With an affectionate smile, Tony places a quick kiss on Peter’s nose. “You only need to say yes.”

“Y-Yes, oh my god, _yes._ ” Feeling jittery, Peter flings his arms around Tony, pulling him in for an embrace. Even though he’s unbelievably happy, he’s already nervous about Harley’s reaction. _And May’s._ Will she be supportive of Peter going out with a world-famous billionaire more than twice his age?

But before he can wreck his brains about it too much, Tony has leaned down for a kiss, wiping all disconcerting thoughts off Peter’s mind.

* * *

Tony radiates with joy the whole day. He barely even pays attention during his appointment with Justin Hammer, since his mind travels back to Peter every other minute. The look on his poor baby’s face when he thought Tony was breaking up with him… and how it turned into a beaming smile when Tony told him that he wanted to make it official…

And yet, when the clock turns five, Tony’s starting to get nervous. Since he figures it would be better to tell Harley as soon as possible, he decided to invite Peter to come to the penthouse with him right after work. The risk of Peter and Harley meeting in the office tomorrow is too high. Tony really wants to spare his son the embarrassment of maybe hitting on the person who might become his stepfather one day.

 _Stepfather…_ For a second, Tony cringes at the thought. The prospect of Peter becoming Harley’s _stepfather_ is so… _absurd._ Not because Tony couldn’t imagine marrying Peter one day ~~(because he _could)_~~ , but because Peter is one year _younger_ than Harley.

Peter’s age was the main reason why Tony was discouraged from taking the cute, clumsy barista home with him the night they met. Even though the idea of fucking him as compensation for his burned skin was extremely tempting, Tony tried to act responsibly and let the poor boy be. Only to lay awake all night, haunted by Peter’s soft curls and his innocent doe eyes swimming in tears of shame and panic. So, he returned to the coffee shop the next day, where his sexual interest quickly turned into more when Tony realized how smart and grown-up Peter was for his age. Especially compared to Harley…

Shuddering, Tony packs his briefcase and takes the elevator down to the garage. Since he drove to work by himself today, he climbs into his Tesla and waits for Peter.

“Sorry, Mr. Beck held me back,” Peter sighs when he joins him ten minutes later. “I swear, he’s starting to catch on, because he asked me why I was late and where I always sneak off to during the day.”

“Well... once our families know, it won’t matter so much anymore what anyone else thinks. However, I still think it would be better to keep it from them for as long as possible. Not because I want to hide you,” Tony quickly adds, glancing at Peter from the side, “but because I’m your boss. I don’t want anyone talking shit about you.”

Peter chuckles softly. “It’s okay. I don’t want them to know either. I’ve had people making fun of me and talking shit behind my back for half of my life.”

Tony’s heart clenches at this. Peter is the most precious human being he’s ever met. It’s unthinkable that there are people out there who don’t appreciate him for who he is.

A few minutes into the ride, Peter brings up Harley. “So, um… I checked Harley’s account, by the way. He doesn’t follow any of the other interns, so I asked them today whether they knew him. They said they didn’t, which makes me really curious why he sent me that follow request, only to cancel it a day later.”

“He cancelled it?” Tony asked casually, shifting in his seat.

“Yeah. It’s weird, isn’t it? Do you think I can ask him how he found my profile? Once he knows about us, I mean?”

Tony cringes inwardly. “Does it really matter?”

“Well… no, but Instagram, Facebook, and all these other companies can be pretty scary. Like, on Saturday, I was randomly talking to my friend Michelle about climbing boots, and a day later, I got ads about _climbing boots_. And it can’t be because of website cookies or active backend scripts, because we weren’t even googling or looking for them online. We were just talking about it.”

Tony comes to stand at a red light. When Peter stays silent, Tony turns towards him with a soft grin. “And what does that have to do with Harley?” 

“Oh,” Peter says, blushing adorably. “Um, I mean, we don’t know what data our phones actually gather and record. Maybe my profile was suggested to him based on our location or something. Or my phone listened to us talking about him, just like it seemed to be doing when I was talking to Michelle about the boots.”

Tony amusedly shakes his head. “Don’t puzzle your pretty head over this, baby. It’s probably a coincidence.” _If only it was…_

Fifteen minutes later, they arrive at the penthouse. In the elevator, Tony tells Peter that he wants to talk to Harley in private first. “Once I’ve told him, I’ll open the door and let you in, okay?”

“Okay,” Peter says, voice trembling. He makes a jittery motion with his hands. “Shit, I’m so nervous. What if he doesn’t like me? What if he thinks I’m… too young for you?”

 _That would be the least of their problems…_ “I’m sure he’ll like you,” Tony says, forcing his lips into a smile. “I mean, it’s _impossible_ not to fall in love with– I-I mean…” _worst choice of words_ ever. “It’s impossible for someone not to _like_ you. But, um… yeah, he might be wary because of your age, but I’m sure it won't–”

Tony almost chokes on his tongue when the doors slide open, making them come face to face with none other than Harley himself. He’s standing right in front of the elevator, nose buried in his phone. When he looks up, his eyes almost pop out of its sockets. “Huh? _"_

There’s an awkward silence, and when neither of them moves, the doors start closing again. Quick-thinking, Peter stretches out his hand to stop them, swallowing thickly before stuttering out a nervous, “H-Hi.”

Tony’s heart skips a beat when Harley fixes his eyes on Peter, a somewhat smug smile playing on his lips. “Hi there.” And then, it gets even worse when Harley looks at Tony and says, “Is this supposed to be an early birthday present?”

Panicking, Tony steps forward. “Can we talk in private for a sec? Inside?”

Harley furrows his brows. “Actually, I just wanted to go down and grab a pizza. After all, you didn’t tell me you’d be bringing home a _snack_.” He laughs at his own joke, but to Tony’s relief, Peter doesn’t seem to catch on, judging by his puzzled expression.

“You can do that later. Come on.” With one last nervous glance at Peter, Tony gently grabs Harley around the arm and pulls him towards the apartment door. Once inside, he closes the door and breathes a sigh of relief.

“Why are you so mysterious?” Harley asks challengingly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “And… What's the deal with _him?”_

Tony takes a few deep breaths. He can’t remember the last time he’s been so nervous. “Look, Harley… I need to tell you something. Um. I haven’t been completely honest with you. I mean, you showed up out of nowhere last Wednesday, and… I had to make up my mind about this first, but, um…” _Just spit it out._ “I started seeing someone new.”

Harley’s face lights up. “Really? That’s great. Congrats. Am I going to meet him soon?”

Pearls of sweat have started building on Tony’s forehead. His heart is beating so rapidly, he can feel it in his throat. “Actually… um… You just met him.”

For a few seconds, nobody says a word, but then Harley’s eyes widen as realization dawns. “Wait, what do you– _What?_ Are you trying to tell me that you’re–” Tony flinches when Harley lets out a barking laugh.“ _Shit_ , you almost got me there. Very funny. Admit it, you brought him so you won’t feel so bad for forcing me to eat dinner with you and your new guy. Oh god, please don’t tell me this is gonna be some sort of… creepy double date.”

“No… nononono, Harley, I’m–”

But his son doesn’t listen. With an annoyed eye roll, he leans around Tony and yanks the door open. “Sorry about my old man,” Harley says loudly, beckoning Peter over. “Come in!”

“Um… okay, thanks,” Peter says, smiling shyly as he steps into the penthouse. 

Not knowing what else to do, Tony jumps forward, snaking his arm around Peter’s waist as he flashes Harley an intent and serious look. “Peter, I want you to officially meet my son, Harley. Harley, this is Peter... My new boyfriend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I was writing about how Peter and Tony fell in love, I couldn’t help thinking that this would’ve made a nice smutty Coffee Shop AU prequel 👀 Anyone else? _Anyone?_ No? Okay… 😆  
> You guys are **so amazing and supportive that I'll try to do my best to update this every Saturday from now on 💕**


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Harley are off to a rough start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to popular demand, I'll write the meet cute & smut prequel one day 😊😊 Maybe for the next fic event of the MCU Discord server I'm apart of, whenever that happens :)  
> \--  
> As always, thank you my dear Gypsywoman13 for beta-reading 😘

_‘This is Peter... My new boyfriend.’_

Harley heard what his father said, but it doesn’t register in his brain. _Not really_. Just like earlier, he thinks that Tony is messing with him, _joking_ , or even pranking him… He _had_ to be, right? 

“I already told you that I’m not falling for that,” Harley snorts, eyes flickering to his father’s arm wrapped around Peter’s small waist. Suddenly, he feels anger bubbling up inside him. “So I’d appreciate it if you cut the bullshit and tell me who you’re _actually_ dating.” 

Harley’s face falls when Peter gasps, turning his unusually pretty head to glance at Tony with wide, confused puppy eyes. 

“I know this is a little… unexpected, but I’m not messing with you,” Tony says calmly. “Peter and I met nine weeks ago when my car broke down in front of the coffee shop he used to work at. We… started chatting, and when I discovered how smart he is, I offered him a job at Stark Industries. We really had a connection, and… well, we were attracted to each other, so we started hanging out. I didn’t tell you sooner because Peter and I hadn’t yet talked about how serious we want this to be, but as it turns out, we’ve both developed feelings and want to continue seeing each other.”

“No… no, this is…” Shaking his head in disbelief, Harley steps back. He feels oddly dizzy all of a sudden. “This is… This is _sick_. He’s what, 20?” Only then, Harley remembers the flirty jokes he cracked earlier and… _Oh god._ Yesterday, he basically told his father that he would try to pinch his fucking _boyfriend_. Sick to his stomach, Harley desperately tries to hold back the tears of anger, shame and disappointment forming in his eyes. “You… fucking disgust me. _Both of you._ "

With that, Harley turns on his heels and flees into his room, haunted by his father's outraged expression and Peter’s shocked gasp. He's barely banged the door shut when the first tears escape his eyes. Why didn’t his father tell him sooner? And why in the world did he have to bring Peter here? It almost seems like Tony’s trying to embarrass him and rub it under his nose that he’s dating the boy Harley ~~wants~~ wanted. _He made him look like a fucking fool._

Growling furiously, Harley kicks the bed frame. This is so fucking ridiculous _._ Peter is a _college sophomore_ who looks like a high schooler, thanks to his baby face. Tony and Peter don’t look like a couple… Not at all. They look like father and son. And what would they even talk to each other about? The only thing Tony cares to talk about these days are robots, cars, wine, and hedge funds. 

Shuddering, Harley catches himself thinking that Tony and Peter might be doing less _talking_ and more _fu--_

_Oh god. Ew._

Shaking his head in a desperate attempt to get the images out of his head, Harley tries to focus on the positive thing. They won’t be together for long, because soon enough Peter will show his true colors. Harley doesn’t doubt for a second that Peter is just dating Tony for his money, but that his naive, desperately needy, and lonely father is too blind to see through it. _Or he just doesn’t care_. But why? Peter isn't even that cute. In fact, he's pretty average. An average, hella awkward boy Harley was only 'interested' in because it would've been fun to deflower an unpopular loser like him… ~~Right?~~

But thanks to his big mouth, Tony now thinks that Harley actually _wants_ Peter; maybe he even thinks that he has a _crush_ on him. Heat flashes up to the nape of Harley’s neck when he wonders if Tony told Peter about it. They could be laughing about him right now, thinking he’s jealous or something. 

With an angry growl, Harley turns and marches to the door, but then he ceases. _He can’t go out there._ Not now. If Tony hasn’t told Peter yet, then Harley would only make everything worse. So, he tries to stay calm and lies down on his couch, scrolling through pointless Instagram posts without even seeing them. After ten minutes, there’s a knock on his door. Although Harley ignores it, the door opens a few seconds later, revealing Tony’s anxious face. 

“We’re ordering pizza. That’s what you said you wanted, right? Wanna join us?”

“I’d rather jump out the window,” Harley growls.

Tony sighs heavily. “Please don’t be like that. I know this must’ve been a shock, but… I want you two to get along. Please, Harley. Peter is great… I’m sure you’ll like him once you’ve gotten to know him properly.” He flashes Harley a meaningful look that makes him want to vomit.

“Did you tell him?” he snaps at his father, who looks like he knows exactly what Harley’s referring to.

“Of course not,” Tony says softly. “I didn’t want–”

“Good. Because I don’t– I mean, I actually lied to you, you know? I already knew you and him were screwing around.”

Tony’s mouth drops open. “What? How would you–”

“People talk,” Harley lies snootily, getting a brilliant idea. “You have no idea how many rumors are going around in the firm already. I didn’t want to believe any of it, but I also didn’t want to outright ask you. So I decided to claim that I thought of Peter as cute. But instead of telling your only son the truth, you umm’d and err’d as though you couldn’t wait for me to embarrass myself.”

Tony stares at Harley in shock. “That’s not true, Harley, and you know it. I’d never want you to embarrass yourself.”

“Then how come you didn’t say anything when we met at the elevator? You just stood there and watched me ‘flirting’ with your ‘boyfriend’. Imagine how awful this would’ve been if I had been serious about it.”

“I did try to stop you, that’s why I pulled you inside,” Tony says, sighing again. “And I already explained why I didn’t tell you right away. I didn’t know if Peter felt the same way as I did. I’m very sorry, Harley, but I swear, I didn’t tell him anything about this. Gosh, I even… I even tried to find excuses as to why you sent him a follow request.”

 _So Peter did ignore his request on purpose…_ Trying to stay calm, Harley glares at his father. “I only sent him a request because his profile is private. I wanted to check if he’d posted any photos of you two. But then I realized how unlikely that was and cancelled the request. Interesting to hear that you two don’t seem to have anything better to do than talking about me, though. But get this into your head – I’m _not_ interested in him. In fact, he’s quite ugly and way below my standards. Everything I said to you, I only said to get you to tell me the truth.”

Tony shakes his head in disbelief. “I already told you how sorry I am for not telling you sooner, but there’s nothing I can do about it anymore. There’s no need for you to be all hostile and try to hurt me by insulting Peter. I hope you can find it in yourself to give him a chance. I mean, if you never even thought of him as cute in the first place, then I don’t see why you can’t just join us for dinner.”

Harley can feel heat flashing up to his cheeks again. “Maybe I don’t want to join you because I’m afraid I’m gonna throw up on my plate at the sight of my father making a fool of himself.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tony hisses, eyes sparkling with anger.

“You don’t _actually_ believe he’s into you, do you? I mean, I know some magazines still call you ‘hot’ or ‘good-looking’ for someone in his forties, but _come on._ You’re one of the smartest, not to mention, _richest_ men alive. Peter wouldn’t be the first person whoring himself out to a sugar daddy in exchange for some fancy presents.”

Harley knows he’s gone too far when Tony steps into the room, banging the door shut behind him. “That’s enough,” he yells, shaking with anger. “I won’t tolerate you calling him a– You have no right, Harley. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I know your mom and I didn’t raise you to be disrespectful and insulting. I want you to apologize. _Now_.”

“Fine,” Harley spits, jumping up from the couch. “I’m _sorry_ for calling him a whore. But I won’t apologize for thinking that he’s using you. I don’t trust him one bit, and I have no idea why you would. But you know what? I don’t care if he screws you over. I just hope you don’t consider introducing him to Morgan. You know how attached she gets to people, so it would be a shame if she started liking him, only to never see him again when you finally stopped thinking with your dick.”

With that, Harley rushes into his bathroom, closing the door behind him loudly.

* * *

Peter’s sitting on the sofa in the lounge, anxiously waiting for Tony to come back. At first, everything had been silent, but then he heard a door falling shut and Tony yelling something unintelligible. The idea that he could be fighting with his son because of him, is giving Peter nausea. Eventually, he can hear footsteps coming from the corridor. Tony’s face is distorted in anger, and he looks somewhat paler than usual. 

Peter swallows thickly. “Everything okay?” 

“Sure. Have you made up your mind on what pizza you want?” Failing to keep the bitterness out of his voice, Tony picks up the flyer from the coffee table and sits down next to Peter.

“Tony… Please don’t patronize me. I want you to be honest. He still thinks of us as disgusting, doesn’t he?”

With a sigh, Tony throws the flyer back onto the table. “Seems like it. But I’m sure he’ll come around once he sees that we’re happy. I mean... that’s the only thing that matters, right?”

“No,” Peter says quietly. “Your children are important, and their opinions do matter. I don’t want you to fight with them just because they don’t like me.”

When Tony looks at him, affection glistens in his eyes. “You’re so goddamn precious, you know that?” With a smile, he puts his arm around Peter and pulls him close. “You are right, Pete. Of course it matters what they think, but Harley– He hasn’t even spoken to you yet. Right now, he’s just… hurt that I didn’t tell him sooner. And yes, he's also… a little taken aback by our age difference, just like you predicted. I love my children with all my heart and I respect their opinion, but Harley’s criticism was neither constructive, nor in any way justified. Once he gets to know you, I’m sure he’ll like you, though. And Morgan hasn’t even met you yet. But I’m not worried about her, she’s a literal sweetheart and one of the most outgoing five-year-olds in the world. She’ll love you.”

Peter feels a little better when Tony places a tender kiss on his temple. Harley reacting so harshly was a shock, and the worst part is that Peter wouldn’t even blame Tony if he broke up with him because his son didn’t approve of their relationship. On the other hand, Tony’s right… Harley hasn’t even spoken to Peter yet. He needs to give him a chance, at least.

Thing is, the way Harley was looking at him when they stepped out of the elevator (not to mention the jokes he cracked)… it was weird. However, when Peter mentioned it to Tony, he claimed that he didn’t notice anything odd. He brushed it off by claiming that Harley always made lame jokes nobody understood and promised Peter he’d ask him about it. 

“Have you, uh, asked Harley why he was acting so strange earlier?” Peter thinks he sees a muscle in Tony’s face twitching when he turns his head to look at the older man. 

“I did. He said he already knew that we have something going on, so he tried to draw us out by making a somewhat dirty joke.”

A _dirty_ joke? “What do you– _Oh no_.” Peter buries his face in shame when he remembers the exact wording of Harley’s 'jokes'. Did he really refer to _him_ as a _snack?_ Only then Peter realizes– “W-Wait, but… how would he know that we have something going on?”

“He claimed that people in the firm are talking.” When Peter looks at Tony in horror, the man quickly adds, “I don’t think they _know_ anything, though. You know how fast people start rumors… God, I can’t even tell you how many people kept on thinking that Natasha and I were a thing, even after I had come out as gay, and even after she had got together with Bruce.” For a few moments, Peter’s still too shocked to speak. Only when Tony reassuringly brushes over his hair, saying, “Don’t worry about it, baby. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think,” he snaps out of it.

“A-Are you sure he’s telling the truth, though? It really didn’t seem like he knew about us when we met at the elevator.”

“He said it was all part of his act. So, um, yeah, I do believe he’s telling the truth. He even said that those rumors were the reason why he tried to follow you on Instagram. And like you said, how else would he know about you, if not because people were talking about us?”

Even though Tony didn't look Peter in the eyes when he said it, Peter relaxes a little bit. It _does_ make sense… to a certain extent, at least. 

They eventually decide to call the delivery service and order their pizza. Since Tony’s such a popular client, the pizza arrives not even fifteen minutes later, so they go over to the dining table and sit down.

They are halfway through their meal when Harley struts into the large open-plan kitchen. Gulping, Peter quickly tries to wipe a dangling cheese string off his mouth, but Harley doesn’t pay any attention to him when he looks at the table, snorting angrily. “You ordered without telling me?”

“I _did_ tell you, but you said you didn’t want any,” Tony says sharply, taking another bite.

“Eh, I _didn’t._ What I said was that I’d rather jump out the window than eat _with_ you, not that I didn’t want to eat anything at all. Great, I’m starving. Thanks a lot.”

“Y-You can have s-some of my slices if you want,” Peter offers, blushing when he stutters. _Can’t he be fucking chill for once?_

Mouth wrinkling in disgust, Harley glances at Peter’s pizza. “I’d rather starve than eat even one slice of pineapple pizza.”

“Harley!” Tony drops his slice, glaring at his son. “Stop acting like an ungrateful brat, or I’ll–”

“Don’t take everything so seriously. Jeez.” Rolling his eyes, Harley leans over the table to grab one of Peter’s pizza slices and picks off the pineapple. With a disgusted expression, he drops the fruit onto the cardboard box and turns to go, not bothering to look at Peter or even thank him for the slice.

“Don’t,” Peter mumbles when Tony gets up from his chair, as though intending to go after him. “It’s fine. He was joking. Even we have bantered about pineapple pizza before, remember?” 

Tony huffs. “That’s different. He still disrespectful to you, so I–”

“Can we please just eat?” Peter sighs. Truth is, how Harley just acted towards him _does_ hurt. But Peter doesn’t want Tony to fight with Harley again. All he wants is peace and harmony. 

Therefore, Peter considers going home after dinner, but Tony persuades him to stay. “We've never spent so many nights apart since we met. Why don’t we watch a movie and cuddle a little?” Tony leans down to kiss Peter, but Peter quickly turns his head, causing Tony to kiss his cheek instead.

“Do you actually think that’s a good idea with Harley being here?” 

“Well, I’m not gonna ask him to sleep in our bedroom,” Tony snorts, shaking his head. “Besides, you _are_ my boyfriend, and this is _my_ apartment. It’s not Harley’s business whether you sleep here or not.”

Feeling a little more confident, Peter mumbles a sheepish ‘Okay’ before allowing Tony to lead him to the master bedroom. As soon as they’ve closed the door behind them, Peter feels like a burden is lifted from his shoulders. Now, he doesn’t have to be anxious anymore about Harley walking in on them cuddling or kissing. 

Since neither of them feels comfortable laying down in bed with their clothes on, they undress before snuggling up under the blankets. Peter rests his head on Tony’s chest, smiling happily when the man wraps his arm around him. He will never get tired of how secure Tony makes him feel. 

They settle on watching an action movie, but Peter stops paying attention when after only a few minutes, Tony starts caressing Peter’s back. The light touch of his fingertips leaves a pleasant ticklish feeling on his skin that makes his cock hard embarrassingly fast, and before Peter knows it, he’s whimpering quietly, desperately trying to hold back from rutting against Tony’s thigh.

“Is there anything you want, sweetheart?” Tony asks after a few minutes, sounding extremely smug. He knows that Peter’s back is one of his many weak spots.

Instead of answering, Peter presses himself against Tony’s leg after all, smearing pre-cum all over his thigh. “Please.”

“Please _what_? Tell me what you want, boy.”

Tony sounds so authoritative, it sends a rush of arousal through Peter’s body. “Please… P-Please touch me. I… I need you.”

With a growl, Tony rolls on top of Peter, wrapping his hand around Peter’s cock to give it a few teasing strokes. “Have you touched yourself the last couple of nights?” Blushing, Peter nods, bucking his hips up. Grinning, Tony withdraws his hand. “Have you been thinking about me when you touched yourself, baby?”

“Y-Yes. I did.”

“What did you imagine I was doing to you?”

Peter bites down on his bottom lip; on the one hand, he’s still way too insecure for dirty talk, but on the other hand, he loves the humiliation that comes with it. “I… imagined that you were… f-fucking me. And I– _oh god_.” Peter gasps when Tony moves a finger over his rim, gently massaging his muscle. 

Chuckling, Tony leans forward to nibble at Peter’s neck, slowly kissing his way down to his shoulder. “What else did you imagine?" he breathes against Peter’s skin. "Tell me, or I’ll stop asking and use your body the way _I_ want.”

Not knowing what would be bad about that, Peter let out an embarrassingly needy moan, only to cry out when Tony softly bit into his shoulder and started sucking. He _loves_ how dominant Tony can get, and he’s so desperate to get fucked at this point that all of his worries are wiped off his mind, allowing him to focus on nothing but the extremely hot guy lying on top of him. 

~~

Hours later, Peter wakes up from his sex-induced sleep, feeling extremely thirsty. A glance at his phone tells him that it’s only a few minutes after midnight, so he decides to get some water. Yawning, he fumbles for his boxers and drags his ass out of bed. F.R.I.D.A.Y. – the smart home system Tony developed – automatically turns on the night light as he walks, allowing him to get to the kitchen without bumping into anything.

In the kitchen, Peter takes a fresh glass out of the cupboard and fills it with some filtered water from the sink. He’s barely taken a sip when–

“You have no fucking shame, do you?”

Flinching, Peter spins around, almost choking on his water when he sees Harley leaning against the fridge with crossed arms, eyes narrowed to slits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I’m already two chapters behind my schedule 😂 There will be longer explicit scenes in future chapters, but for now I want to focus on moving the plot along :) Hope that’s ok <3 Fun fact: my stepmom is only 6 years older than my brother 😄 Do you have stepparents?


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a straight talk with Peter, Harley confides in Quentin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Gypsywoman13 for beta-reading 💕💕

Peter’s gaping at Harley with wide eyes, looking like a deer caught in headlights – startled, _frightened_ and unmoving. After his father and Peter had locked themselves into Tony’s bedroom, Harley thought it was safe enough to leave his room and head outside to get his pizza. Trying not to think about what Peter and Tony might be doing in his father’s bed, he then watched TV until he eventually fell asleep on the sofa... only to be woken up by F.R.I.D.A.Y. activating the night lights and Peter waddling into the kitchen. Unable to resist following him, Harley had silently admired Peter’s peachy butt for a few seconds before he decided to make his present felt. 

Peter coughs a few times since he choked on his water, giving Harley time to admire the fine outlines of a small bulge in the boy’s wide boxers and take in every inch of his dimly lit, naked torso. Peter’s body is small and delicate for sure, but also there’s noticeably some very fine muscles on his chest, as though he recently started working out. 

“E-Excuse me?” Peter coughs, turning around to place the glass on the counter, hand shaking. Only then, Harley notices something that looks like a love bite on the boy’s shoulder. Without warning, a blinding rage of jealousy overcomes him, making him curl his hands into fists. _This isn’t right._ His father shouldn’t be the one to mark Peter. ~~It should be _him._ ~~

“I said you have no fucking shame,” Harley growls, standing with his legs apart, shoulders squared. “Flouncing around in a luxurious penthouse like you own the place, in nothing more than your underwear and a disgusting hickey on your shoulder, as if emphasizing how much of a whore you are.”

Peter’s hazelnut colored eyes widen before he winces a little, making him look like a beaten pup. “I-I’m not… Y-You don’t even know me, so how can you–”

“Please,” Harley snorts, trying to sound as scornful as possible. “You are literally selling your fucking _ass_ to a rich guy old enough to be your _father_. If that ain’t the prime example of prostitution, I don’t know what is. Dad might be too blinded by your fake innocence and affection to see through it, but you can’t fool me.” Harley steps closer, almost smirking smugly when Peter protectively crosses his arms in front of his naked chest. “I know a gold digger when I see one.” 

Even though the boy doesn’t shrink back, he’s clearly intimidated by Harley being quite a bit taller and buffer than him. “L-Look, I…” Peter’s voice is raspy, so he clears his throat and tries again. “I’m not saying we have to be… friends or something, but I swear to you that I’m not a… a gold digger or… a w-whore. Your dad approached _me_. I would’ve never– If you want the truth, I have no idea why he’s even into me in the first place, but I’m not using him. I… I really like him, and... he loves you, so I really hope that we can… get along. Please.”

Peter looks so _desperate_ and sincere that Harley almost feels bad for a second. As he’s staring down at him, he’s overcome with a strong urge to wrap his arms around Peter’s small frame and pull him close… an urge to gently tilt his head up and kiss those delicate–

_Shit._

Angry with himself, Harley shakes his head to try and clear his mind. “You can’t expect me to stand by and watch some promiscuous _child_ destroy everything my father and grandfather built. My family means everything to me… I won’t let you hurt them.” Voice turning into a growl, he adds, “Rest assured that if I find the tiniest bit of evidence that you’re trying to get your dirty hands on my father’s money, I’ll bring you down.”

With that, Harley spins on his heels and walks to his room. Fuming, he bangs his door shut, not bothering if it woke up Tony two rooms ahead. _Screw them._

Come next morning, Harley feels like he got hit by a bus. It took him ages to fall asleep, but when he finally did, he dreamed of a half-naked Peter covered in dozens of love bites, laughing at Harley's outraged expression while dancing under hundreds of dollar bills Tony let rain down on him. 

For a moment, Harley considers telling his father that he's too sick to go to work, but he has a feeling that Tony won't tolerate it. Especially not after Harley's behavior yesterday… Frustrated and sullen, Harley opens Instagram and records a few stories, telling his followers that he had a _'rough night'_ and that there was _'a lot of shit going on'_ he'd love to tell them about but can’t. 

Fifteen minutes later, he walks into the kitchen. He finds Peter sitting on one of the stools at the kitchen counter, looking as miserable and tired as Harley feels. "Morning," Peter mumbles, eyes flicking to Harley for a quick second before looking back at his empty plate. 

It attracts Tony's attention, who's standing at the stove making omelettes. "Morning, son," he says, but it sounds stiff and cold. Does this mean the little snitch told Tony about their encounter last night? 

Trying to make an effort, Harley says, "Morning. Do you, um, need help with anything?" 

Tony turns to gape at him, looking like he couldn't believe Harley just offered his help. Admittedly, Harley usually never helps with anything, but seeing Peter sitting lazily at the counter and waiting to be served, made him think that offering his help could make Tony realize that Peter’s nothing more than a _spoiled brat._

"Wow, that's… very considerate of you, but I'm good, thanks." Tony's mouth curls into a fatherly smile, making Harley think that Peter didn't tell him anything after all. _Good..._ "Take a seat. Want an omelette?" 

"Sure. Thanks, dad." Making sure to leave a seat between Peter and him, Harley sits down. 

"So, um… Did you sleep well?" Tony asks after a few quiet moments. 

Deciding to mess with him, Harley says, "Not really. The walls are thinner than you think." 

From the corner of his eye, he can see Peter look at him, but Harley keeps his attention on his father. Blushing, the man clears his throat. “Um… I’m pretty sure the both of us were asleep at like 10 p.m. already, so I don’t know what you think you– I mean… um…”

 _Hm._ The hickey on Peter’s shoulder was no doubt fresh, so it seems like those two couldn’t wait to get their hands on each other as soon as they were in Tony’s room… If all of this wasn’t so disgusting, it would be somewhat cute.

“Relax, I’m _just kidding._ ” Snorting, Harley takes a look at his phone to see how many of his followers have watched his story already. 

During breakfast, he doesn’t pay a lot of attention to either Peter or his father. Tony desperately tries to make some sort of small talk, but is met with mostly one word answers from the both of them. Eventually, he asks Peter, “Something wrong, baby? You’re oddly quiet today.”

 _Baby_ … Harley wants to vomit.

“‘s fine,” Peter mumbles. “Just tired.”

After breakfast, they go back to their rooms to brush their teeth and get ready. Ten minutes later, Harley walks back into the living room, surprised to see Happy waiting by the entrance door. Last week, it was Tony who drove them to work every day. “Morning, Happy. Are you here to pick us up?” 

“I’m here to pick _you_ up,” Happy corrects, lips curling into a bright smile when he shifts his gaze a little to the right. “Morning, Pete.”

 _Wait, what?_ Where is–

“Morning, Mr. Happy.” 

Harley feels a rush of anger taking a hold of him when he turns around, noticing Peter behind him. With a weak smile, the boy walks past him, approaching Happy. Only when the man asks Peter how he’s doing, Harley realizes– Happy _knows_ Peter. And not only that, he actually seems to _like_ him, judging by his big ass smile.

Fuming, Harley decides to interrupt their little chit-chat. “Didn’t you say you’re here to pick _me_ up? If you don’t mind, I’d like to leave. _Now_.” 

Happy’s smile turns a little stiff. “Sure, kid.” 

With one last derogatory look at Peter, Harley stalks past him and leaves the penthouse. Once Happy is steering the car out of the garage, Harley asks him why Tony isn’t driving him today. “Does he have an early appointment outside of the office or something?”

“Not that I know of. I figure he asked me to drive you because he’s dropping Peter off at ESU. He does that sometimes.”

Remembering that the guy at work mentioned that Peter only worked mornings on Mondays, Harley gravely says, “I see... When did dad tell you? That they’re fucking, that is?”

“He didn’t tell me, I found out. As head of security, I tend to see things others don’t. I asked Tony about it a month ago, I think? He said it wasn’t anything serious between them, but since he told you now, I guess that’s changed.”

Harley snorts disdainfully. “You don’t honestly think Peter’s sincere, though, do you? Sorry, but I think he’s shady. You of all people should be wary of him.”

“Tony’s love life isn’t my business, Harley,” Happy says softly. “As his friend, _yes_ , I was a little wary about it at first, but Peter’s a very sweet kid. From what I know, he never asked Tony for money or anything, and he’s always friendly. Tony told me he’s happy, and that’s all that matters to me.”

Seeing no sense in trying to convince Happy otherwise, Harley quietly shakes his head. It’s not that he doesn’t want his father to be happy… he just _knows_ that Peter isn’t right for him. And he’s gonna find a way to prove it.

Therefore, the first thing Harley does when he arrives at the office is illegally access the employee database to look up Peter’s personal information. He snorts when he finds out that Peter lives in a _very_ shady neighborhood in Queens and in an apartment complex that looks pretty run-down on Google Maps. So much for claiming _not_ to be a gold digger...

Harley wants to cry when he sees that Peter is born in August, making him _a year and four months younger_ than Harley. The general public would surely be outraged if they found out that Tony Stark is dating a nineteen year old _teenager_ , not to mention... what Pepper and Tony’s friends would say. Unless they’ve been brainwashed like Happy, they will undoubtedly share Harley’s concerns about Peter using Tony. 

At 10 a.m., Harley’s morning brightens when Quentin pays him a visit in the office. Bruce doesn’t mind Harley taking a break, so they go and fetch a coffee from the vending machine. 

“Good news," Quentin grins. "You can start working at R&D next week.” His brows narrow into a frown when Harley almost chokes on his coffee. 

“You spoke to my dad already?”

“Um… yeah. I thought that’s what we agreed on?"

Harley curses quietly. He really doesn't want to have to look at Peter’s ~~pretty~~ stupid face more than he has to. “I know, but… _shit._ Something happened yesterday that makes me want to be as far away from your intern as possible.”

Frowning deeper, Quentin tilts his head. “Peter? But... you weren’t even here yesterday, were you?”

“No. He was in our apartment, though.”

“What?” Quentin sounds even more confused now. “Why would– Did you hook up with him after all?”

Is he imagining it or have Quentin’s eyes darkened a little? Face distorted in disgust, Harley shakes his head. “Good god, no. _Dad_ did.”

The silence that follows is deafening. "Tony… and Peter?" Quentin mumbles flabbergasted after a while. "That's a joke, right?" 

"I wish," Harley says darkly. "I couldn't believe it either, but it’s true. And it’s not a one time thing. They’re _dating_."

A dark shadow casts over Beck's face, his eyes sparkling oddly, when he shakes his head. "This is… you can’t be serious. What is he thinking? Peter is _nineteen!_ This could ruin the firm!"

It does warm Harley’s heart to see how much Quentin cares about Tony. Even though his father is friends with Quentin, he often complains about the man being self-absorbed and oversensitive. But as it seems, Tony did him wrong. Quentin genuinely cares about him and the future of the firm. 

In a few words, Harley tells Quentin everything that he knows. “So, yeah, my father is making a complete fool of himself, and there’s nothing I can do about it,” he concludes with a sigh.

They’ve both finished their coffee at this point, so they walk to the trash can to dispose of the cups. “I guess now I know why Peter spends so much time in your father’s office,” Quentin snorts, sounding somewhat bitter. 

“And _why_ he hired him in the first place,” Harley adds. “I bet he’s pretty dumb and useless.”

At this, Quentin shakes his head. “Actually, Peter is _outstandingly_ smart. You’d be surprised to find out what he knows and what he can do. He’s always nice to everyone, does everything you tell him to do without questioning, and on top of that, he’s extremely modest. He’s… almost _too_ perfect, if you know what I mean.”

“You mean that there’s gotta be something wrong with him?”

Quentin shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know him that well. However, what I do know is that he has financial worries and little to no friends. For Tony’s and the firm’s sake, I _really_ hope that you are wrong about Peter using him, but… yeah. I find your concerns very reasonable, and I think Tony should appreciate you worrying about him. After all, you are his son and only want what's best for him."

Quentin's words are music to Harley's ears. "At least _you_ get it. I just don't know what to do… Dad won't listen to me, no matter what I say. The only hope I have is that he tells Pepper and his friends soon. Maybe they'll be able to knock some sense into him." 

"Yeah… let's hope he'll tell them before his feelings get even stronger," Quentin says, lips curling into a soft smile. "Thank you for telling me, Harley, but in case you only told me in the hopes that I would tell anyone else, I’m afraid I can’t help you." 

"Huh? What do you mean?" 

"Well… let’s say that if rumors spread inside the firm, Tony might be inclined to dump Peter or make a public statement – and as a result, tell his friends – rather soon. So, I figured you might have told me in the hopes that I would spread these rumors for you. I won’t judge you if that’s the case. I know you’d only mean well.”

Harley frowns. That’s actually not a bad idea, but… even though he already claimed that people have been gossiping in the firm, being the one to spread these rumors – or ask Quentin to do it – would be too risky. “No, that’s not why I told you. For now, Happy and I are the only ones who officially know… so, if news got out about it, dad might assume it was me.” 

“Good,” Quentin says, smiling somewhat stiffly. “I mean, don’t get me wrong... I’d _love_ to help you out, but I don’t want to interfere in Tony’s private affairs. Too bad I’m hetero and Peter’s boss, though, otherwise I would be able to help you figure how serious Peter is about all of this.”

When Quentin winks at Harley, he frowns again. “Huh? What do you mean?” 

“Well, if I were gay and his workmate, I’d offer to flirt with him and see if he catches the bait.” Throwing his head back, Quentin lets out a barking laugh. Although Harley joins into his laughter, he can’t help thinking that Quentin is a _genius_. In fact, he’s just given him another great idea... 

* * *

It’s after six when Peter visits Tony in his office. Almost everyone else has left already, including Miss Romanoff. Which is good, because now that Peter knows that people have already been gossiping about them, he figures it’s better to keep his distance from Tony at work for now. “Hey.”

“Hi, baby. How was your day?”

Peter shrugs his shoulders. “Class with Dr. Connor was fun like always, and work was okay too. Mr. Beck still has me working on the AR glasses. I mean, _Quentin_. He asked me to call him by his first name today.”

“Really?” Tony stands up to stuff some documents into his briefcase. “That’s great. He thinks very highly of you, you know?” He flashes Peter a proud smile, but then averts his gaze. “Speaking of… Quentin and Harley have always got along really well and, um, Quentin just so happens to need an additional member for one of his teams, so... I agreed to let Harley transfer down to R&D next week.”

Peter gulps. _Just great._ “Oh… o-okay.”

Tony glances at Peter awkwardly. “Look, I know you two had a rough start, but Quentin already knew Harley was working here. I couldn’t have said no without giving him a proper reason as to why not. I doubt Harley and you will see each other a lot, but even if you do… think of it as a chance to get to know each other better. You just need to give him a few days to get over the shock.”

Once again, Peter considers telling Tony that his son called him a gold digger and a _whore_ last night, but then he decides against it. It would only make Tony upset and create more conflict between father and son. “Sure.”

Sighing, Tony comes around the table and pulls Peter into his arms. “Don’t be so sulky, baby. I promise everything will be alright. Now, how about we go and grab something to eat? We could go to Joe’s again? Or do you want to order in and snuggle up on the couch?”

“I, um, think it would be better if I slept in my apartment tonight,” Peter mumbles, easing out of Tony’s embrace. “As you said, we need to give Harley a few days to get over the shock, and... how is he supposed to do that if I’m around all the time?”

“Alright,” Tony pouts, leaning down to sneak a quick kiss. “But can I at least take you out to dinner? We could make it our tradition to go to Joe's every Tuesday or Wednesday. Then, we'll make sure we see each other outside the firm at least once during the workweek, no matter how stressful things are.”

Peter shudders when he can hear Harley’s snarling voice taunting him in his head. _‘I know a gold digger when I see one’_. Has Peter ever actually _paid_ for anything when he was out with Tony? Problem is, Peter can barely afford paying for himself – let alone for Tony _and_ himself. At least not in the exquisit places Tony likes to dine in... But he can surely afford to pay for the next pizza or Chinese take-away, right?

“Okay… but next time we order in, I’m going to pay. Deal?”

Even though Tony looks surprised, he chuckles softly. “Whatever you want, baby.”

Smiling, Peter pulls Tony down for another kiss. Maybe Harley’s criticism was good for something after all. It can’t hurt to give back a little (at least, whatever he can afford), and then, Harley will hopefully realize that Peter doesn’t ~~love~~ like Tony for his money.

~~

As it turns out, Harley might come around earlier than Peter and Tony have dared to hope. The next afternoon, Peter has barely sat down on his workstation when he hears someone clearing their throat behind him. Expecting one of his colleagues, Peter lifts his head and turns around, only to gasp. 

“Hi. How’s it going?” Harley asks, offering a somewhat sheepish smile.

Harley was the last person Peter expected, let alone seeing him _smile_ at him. “I… G-Good, um… M-May I help you with something?” 

“Actually… no. I just wanted to talk to you for a sec.” Harley glances around nervously before lowering his voice. “How about we grab a coffee down the hall?”

Completely taken aback by Harley’s mysterious, yet oddly friendly behavior, Peter can feel himself nodding. What can it hurt? They keep quiet on their way to the vending machine, but once they’re both holding cups, Harley closes the door to the office kitchen and clears his throat again. 

“Look… I feel a little… guilty about what I said to you on Monday,” he mumbles, looking down at his feet. “I know I shouldn’t have– Thing is, I don’t know you, so it really isn’t my right to judge you… you know?” Harley lifts his head, nervously biting down on his bottom lip. “It’s just… I tend to get really protective of my family. I know it’s wrong, though, and I want to apologize. From the bottom of my heart, I am _really_ sorry for calling you bad names. I hope you can forgive me.”

Peter can barely believe his ears. Did Tony ask Harley to apologize or does he actually mean it? “I… Um, s-sure. It’s okay, I know you didn’t– Um, I mean… I get that you’re wary and stuff, but there’s no need for it. As I said, I really like your dad for who he is, and he makes me so happy that I–”

“Great,” Harley interrupts, the corners of his mouth going down a little. Peter silently scolds himself; just because Harley is sorry, doesn’t mean he wants to hear any details about their relationship. “So, can we start over?”

Eyes crinkling kindly, Harley extends his hand. Despite still being a little wary, Peter takes it, lips twitching into a relieved smile. “I’d love to. Thanks for apologizing. I really appreciate it.”

Harley nods absentmindedly. “Thank _you_ for accepting it.” Peter shifts a bit when Harley continues to hold onto his hand, staring at him with wide, somewhat dreamy eyes. 

Very carefully, the teen eventually tries to pull it out of the other boy’s tight grip. “S-Sure.”

Once he’s successfully freed his hand, Harley blinks a few times, as though he's coming to his senses. Letting out an awkward laugh, he lifts his hand to rub the back of his head. “Great. Thanks. Um. Actually, I’m throwing a party on Friday and I was wondering if you wanted to come? It could be a perfect opportunity to get to know each other a little better without dad being there and… make everything awkward, you know?”

When Harley laughs again, a shiver runs down Peter’s spine. He _hates_ parties. But he can’t really say no, can he? He’d feel ungrateful if he did, and it would also make him look like a loser on top of that. After all, a blind person could see that Peter’s way less confident than Harley, and if he wants to get along with him, he should make an effort and at least give it a try. If it sucks, he can always leave.

“That’s very, um, nice of you. I’d love to come. Thank you.”

At this, the corners of Harley’s mouth curl into a somewhat sly-looking smile. “Perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The more chapters I write, the further _behind_ my schedule I get. How’s that even possible?! 😂Sorry if these are boring, I’m giving up on trying to figure out what’s going to happen in the next chapter but I hope things will get a little more interesting soon.


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter tells Aunt May; Harley’s party comes with surprises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you [ Gypsywoman13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gypsywoman13/pseuds/Gypsywoman13) for reading over this 💕

“Told you,” Tony says, his cheerful voice indicating that he’s smiling brightly. “I know Harley can be a little… _difficult_ , but deep down he’s a very friendly and good kid. I’m so happy you want to give him a chance to make up for his rude behavior the other night.”

“Of course I do,” Peter says, coming to a stop before his old apartment complex. Even though he moved out a few weeks before the start of sophomore year, May still insists on cooking him dinner at least twice a week. Peter is very grateful for it – he misses his aunt more than he admits. Wedging the phone between his shoulder and ear, he fiddles his old key out of his pocket and unlocks the heavy entrance door. “I’m just nervous about the party. I don’t think I’ve ever told you, but I don’t like going to parties.”

Tony chuckles. “Aw, I’m sure you’ll be fine, baby. Just a head’s up, though, some of Harley’s friends are… well, they are _nice_ and all, but some are kinda snobby and bratty.” _So, just like Harley, then…_ “I’m sure you’ll have fun, though. If not, call me and I’ll come to the rescue, okay?” 

“I will, thanks,” Peter smiles, knowing that calling Tony to pick him up is the last thing he’ll do. “But let’s see if I’m even still alive tomorrow. I just arrived at May’s.”

“So, you’ve made up your mind about telling her?”

Peter shudders. “Yes. Now that we know that people in the firm are talking, I don’t want to wait any longer. I just hope I’ll have the balls to actually do it.” Sighing, Peter walks up to the old elevator, pressing the button to call it down. “I’m really scared of her reaction.”

“I guess this is a bad idea, but… do you want me to come over and help you through it?”

“No, thank you, Tony, but I don’t want to overwhelm her. It’s going to be alright. Um, should I come over after college tomorrow?”

“I’d love to,” Tony says. “Should I send Happy to pick you up?”

Taking advantage of the fact that Tony can’t see him, Peter rolls his eyes, chuckling, “Thank you, but I told you already that taking the subway is neither dangerous, nor rocket science.”

Tony mumbles something unintelligible before sheepishly wishing Peter a nice evening and good luck.

A few minutes later, Peter briefly knocks at May’s apartment door before unlocking it himself, finding his aunt bustling around in the kitchen. After giving her a kiss on the cheek, Peter immediately offers to help, glad that she – in contrast to Tony – actually lets him help. Although he doesn’t mind Tony spoiling him, it does make him feel a little useless sometimes. 

All through dinner, Peter tries to avoid telling May about Tony. Instead, he talks about college and work, even more than usual. However, once he helps her with the dishes, he feels like he can’t play for time any longer. 

“Oh, and… Something else happened this week that, um... was quite something,” he says, heart pounding so rapidly he’s convinced May can hear it.

“Ah… Are you finally gonna tell me what his name is?” May grins, causing Peter to almost drop the plate he’s cleaning.

“What? W-What do you– What are you talking about?”

“Oh, honey.” Chuckling, May shakes her head. “You’ve been so busy and dreamy for the past couple of weeks that I’d have had to be blind to not notice what’s up. I just didn’t ask because I figured you’d tell me once you’re ready.”

Peter doesn’t know what to say; he feels awful for giving May the feeling that he was hiding something from her, but since this is exactly what he’s been doing, he figures he deserves it. “May, I’m… I’m really sorry for not telling you sooner, but… I didn’t want to tell you in case it didn’t work out and, um... ”

“Don’t worry about it,” May says softly, turning off the faucet and drying her hands with the dish towel. “While I admit that I was _very_ tempted to ask you, you’ve seemed so happy recently that I didn’t want to be the lame guardian and pressure you into talking about it. So, who is he? Is he from college? It _is_ a ‘he’, isn’t it?”

Peter nods. He came out when he was sixteen, but until now, he’s never had anyone he could’ve told May about, let alone introduce her to. In fact, he never even had a fucking _date_ before Tony. “He um… He works at Stark Industries.” A second later, Peter cringes inwardly. _Perfect answer, Peter._ Just _perfect._ God, he’s such a human disaster...

“That’s great! Is he an intern as well?”

“N-Not quite. He’s… a little older than me.”

May raises her brows. “What’s a _little?”_

Peter thinks he’s about to collapse, so he shifts from one foot to the other. “Well, you, um… D-Do you remember when I told you about the day I spilled coffee over T-Tony Stark?” 

“Of course I remember,” May says, narrowing her eyes to slits. “But what does he have to do with–”

“I-It’s him,” Peter blurts out, wishing to evaporate into thin air. Not wanting to give May any opportunity to talk, he starts rambling at the speed of light. “I know I told you that he came back because he felt sorry for me, and that we talked and that he offered me this job, but that’s not all – I mean, basically it _is_ all, but we really l-liked each other, and he later said that he tried to resist asking me out because I’m so young, but he also said that he couldn’t really because he was so impressed by my knowledge of biomolecular hydrodynamics, so I started working there, and on the second day he–”

“Hold on a second,” May interrupts, holding up her right hand as her nostrils flare. Peter doesn’t really mind the interruption – he’s feeling oddly dizzy because it seems he forgot to breathe. “Are you trying to tell me that the guy you’re dating is _Tony Stark?”_

“B-Basically… yes,” Peter says, trying not to wince at the way May’s pupils dilate dangerously. “It’s why he hired me. I-I mean,” he gulps, realizing what he implied, “it’s not– Shit, this sounded wrong, I didn’t mean that he– I-I meant to say that he hired me because–”

“ _He's attracted to you?_ A barely legal college student who just started working at his firm?!” To say that May sounded outraged would be an understatement.

Peter looks at her pleadingly. “I know how it sounds, but it’s not _like that_. When he asked me out, he reassured me about a dozen times that there was no pressure that I said yes. And I believed him. But I said yes because I was _blown away_ by him. May, he’s even greater than you can imagine, and I… I’m really, _really_ happy. P-Please don’t try to talk me out of it.” When Peter’s voice breaks, tears start to well up in his eyes. _Yes, show May how mature and grown-up you are by crying like a baby. Good job._

For a few seconds, May just stares at him warily, but then she lets out a long and deep exhale. “Oh Peter.” She walks up to him and pulls him into a tight embrace. “The only thing I want in this world is for you to be happy and safe. I know you’re an adult now, but… I’m still your aunt, and I still love you more than anything. You can’t blame me for worrying about you.”

“But there isn’t anything to worry about,” Peter mumbles, lowering his head to bury his face in her shoulder. “Tony is the kindest and most caring man I’ve ever met. He’s been nothing but good to me, and he… he’s very sincere about this. He even introduced me to his son on Monday.”

“Wait, his son?” May pulls away, looking like she just remembered something. “Isn’t he… a teenager already?”

Blushing, Peter averts his gaze. “A-Actually, he’s m-my age, kinda. He was very, uh, emotional about it at first, but now he seems to have come around.” 

They move to sit down on the couch, where Peter tells May about Tony’s and Peter’s first date, the two months that followed, Harley coming home unexpectedly; about their decision to tell their families, and about Harley’s reservations. “So, he basically thinks – or thought – that I’m just dating Tony for his money, which I’m _not_. I mean, yeah, the fact that he has money most certainly doesn’t disqualify him, but it’s also… a little intimidating sometimes.”

“But this is exactly why this is such a shock to me as well,” May explains, smiling cautiously. “Tony Stark isn’t just older. He's one of the richest and most famous CEOs in the world. Heck, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are little fish compared to him when it comes to fame and wealth. And didn’t Stark even star in a feature film or two a few years ago? Don’t get me wrong, Peter – I’m not trying to say that you aren’t worthy of someone like him, but you wouldn’t be the first young person being taken advantage of by an older rich person. And considering Stark’s well-known history as a playboy… I just don’t want you to get hurt, sweetheart.”

“Thank you, but I _know_ that Tony isn’t using me, just like I’m not using him. It might be naive, but I trust him. If it doesn’t work out, so be it, but I honestly believe that he is as sincere about this as I am. We really want to be with each other.”

May sighs again. “Okay. If you trust him, then I trust you. But promise me that you’ll talk to me if there’s anything you need to talk about, okay? I’m always here for you, Peter.”

“I know,” he smiles, leaning forward to embrace her again. “Thank you so much, May. Larb you.”

_Well, that went better than expected._

_~~  
_

Encouraged by May’s promise to support them, Peter decides to do everything in his power to become friends with Harley. Yet, he’s not too unhappy when Harley leaves the penthouse as soon as Peter comes to visit the next day, mumbling something about ‘being late already’. 

Tony only shrugs his shoulders when Peter asks him where Harley was heading to. “Probably a friend’s or something. He stopped telling me everything about where he was going and what he was doing the second he turned eighteen.”

Peter decides that it’s better that they’re alone anyways. He’s here to spend the evening (and night) with Tony, after all, and just like Harley said, it’s going to be easier warming up to one another without Tony being present. 

While Tony’s making pasta, Peter tells him everything about May’s reaction that he feels comfortable to share. “She even said she’d love to get to know you one day, but I think we should give her a week or two to actually get over it.”

“Sure thing,” Tony says, lifting the cooking spoon to his lips to taste the sauce. “I’m excited to meet her. From everything you’ve told me, I’m getting Pepper vibes from her. Could be a good or bad thing,” he laughs, adding some more pepper to the sauce before asking Peter to take a seat at the table.

Harley doesn’t show up for the rest of the evening. It’s 2:30 a.m. when Peter wakes up, thinking he heard a door falling shut loudly, but he just snuggles up to Tony and falls back asleep almost instantly. In the morning, Tony reminds Peter that Harley doesn’t have to work on Fridays, so he asks him to try and be quiet.

Just after his last class at 3:00 p.m., Peter receives a text message from a number he doesn’t know. _‘dad gave me ur number to send u details about tonight. 9:00 p.m., 873 7th ave, 18th floor. hope u’ll come - harley'_

Feeling both happy and anxious, Peter types a quick response. _'Looking forward to it :) Thanks again for the invite :)'_

However, only six hours later, Peter's anxiety has gone up to eleven. Standing in front of the skyscraper the party is supposed to take place in, Peter considers just turning around and leaving. But he knows he can't. If Tony and him are supposed to have a happy future, he needs to try and bond with Harley. 

Taking a deep breath, Peter pushes the entrance door open. He's not surprised to see a concierge, who eyes him skeptically when Peter says he's here for the 'party on the eighteenth floor'. Only once the man has checked if Peter’s name is on the guest list does he let him through to the elevator, which takes him right up to a gigantic party room with loud music and a large bar. 

The second Peter steps out of the elevator, he realizes _why_ the concierge was eyeing him so warily. No matter where Peter looks, he sees girls in expensive cocktail dresses and heels, as well as young guys in sports coats, polo shirts and dress shoes. Whereas, Peter is wearing what he always does – a shirt, a sweater, jeans, and his worn-out Vans. 

He gulps when a group of people standing close to the elevator stare at him as if he was an alien, only to burst into giggles and say something to one another Peter can't understand due to the loud music. _Just great._ How was he supposed to know that there was a dress code? Harley didn't mention–

"Peter!" Turning to the left, Peter sees Harley walking up to him, flanked by a blonde girl and a black-haired guy. “Glad you could make it.” Peter visibly shrinks as Harley and his two friends are eyeing him up and down with an odd expression.

“H-Hi, thanks for... inviting me,” Peter mumbles, blushing deeply. He really wishes they wouldn’t look at him like that... Deciding that offense is the best defense, he adds, “Y-You didn’t tell me there was a dress code.”

“A dress code?” Harley asks, brows pinched in confusion. “What do you mean? This is a normal– _Oh shit_. You probably haven’t been to a party like this before, have you?” He flashes his two friends a meaningful look before turning his attention back to Peter. “I’m really sorry. I should’ve known someone from the lower class doesn’t know how to dress up for a fancy party.”

When his friends burst out laughing, Peter wishes for the ground to open up and swallow him. Just when he thinks that Harley did all of that on purpose, the boy glares at his friends, snapping, “What’s there to laugh about?”

Muttering an apology, they hurry away, leaving Peter alone with Harley. The young man shakes his head. “Sorry about that. This really is my fault. I should’ve made sure to tell you about wearing appropriate clothes, considering you’re from Queens and all. Come on, let’s get you a drink.”

Before Peter can react, Harley has put his arm around his shoulder and pulls him with him. “How do you know I’m from Queens?”

“Dad mentioned it,” Harley answers quickly. “But don’t worry about the clothes, it really doesn’t matter. Just keep in mind that people usually dress up for upper class parties. I mean, this isn’t some crappy high school or college party, you know? I’m paying one hundred grand for the location alone.”

For a second, Peter forgets how to function. One hundred _thousand_ dollars? That’s more than what May earns in a _year_. “Why didn’t you just invite them to the penthouse?”

“Because I’m expecting about two hundred guests, including some important business contacts and other influencers,” Harley smirks, leading Peter over to the bar. “They wouldn’t fit into our small apartment.” _Small?_ Peter is lost for words when Harley guides him to one of the bar stools. “Why don’t you sit here and order something? I’ll be with you shortly. Don’t worry about having to show your ID, I’m paying the staff double to give us whatever we want.” 

Winking, Harley struts away, leaving Peter by himself. He still feels dizzy. How can someone spend so much money of a fucking party location? This is just ridiculous. 

While waiting for Harley to come back, Peter lets his eyes roam. Is Harley actually _friends_ with all of these people? Tony once told him that whenever he feels obligated to throw a party, he doesn’t give a fuck about most of the guests coming. He likes to say that there's only about a handful of people he truly cares about. Is it the same with Harley?

As more and more people arrive at the party, the more anxious Peter feels. On top of that, the awful music and the loud chatter are giving him a headache, so he decides to order a Coke. The barkeeper raises his brows. "A _Coke?"_ When Peter nods, he shrugs and leaves, only to come back with an 8 oz glass bottle, a glass, and a straw. "That's $16.99,” he says, opening the bottle with a loud POP.

Peter stares at him. _Seventeen dollars_ for a _Coke?!_ Not only is that outrageously expensive, but Peter expected not having to pay anything at all after watching a bunch of other guests getting free cocktails a few moments earlier. “I um… I thought drinks were free,” he says sheepishly, wishing his cheeks wouldn’t turn so hot. 

“They’re not,” the barkeeper drawls. Only a second later, two guys address the other barkeeper, ordering two beers and a shot of Tequila. 

“See,” Peter says flustered when they leave without being asked to pay.

“Those are VIP. You aren’t, so you better pay or I’ll call security.”

To his greatest embarrassment, tears start welling up in Peter’s eyes. He knows it’s childish, but he has about sixty dollars left for the rest of the _month_. Not wanting to cause any trouble ~~or lose his face in front of Harley and his friends~~ , Peter reaches for his wallet, but before he could’ve taken out a bill, someone else puts a twenty on the bar.

“Keep the change.” Spinning around in his seat, Peter comes face to face with a handsome brunette around his age. The guy looks sort of familiar, but Peter doesn’t know where he could possibly know him from. “Is this seat taken?” he asks, pointing at the stool next to Peter.

Snapping out of it, Peter quickly shakes his head. “N-No.” Face flushing with shame, Peter pulls out one of his last three banknotes and holds it out to the other boy. “Here.”

“Drink’s on me,” the brunette says, eyes crinkling kindly. 

“Thanks, but… you shouldn’t–”

“I _insist_. What are you having?”

“J-Just a Coke.”

Instead of mocking him, the boy smiles, ordering a Coke as well. The barkeeper brings it to him, saying overly friendly, “Here, Mr. Osborn.”

 _Osborn?_ “Oh my god, you’re Harry Osborn,” Peter blurts out, finally realizing why the boy looks so familiar. Not only has Peter seen photos of him before, he’s even briefly come across him in the cafeteria at ESU once. 

“I am,” Harry grins, offering Peter his hand. “And your name is?”

Feeling excited, Peter shakes it. “Peter Parker. I studied your father’s work on genetic technologies and exo-suits for a college essay last year.”

Harry’s pupils dilate a little. “Wow, that’s… pretty impressive. What are you majoring in?”

“Biochemics and Biophysics. I’m a sophomore at ESU.”

“Really? I study Data Analytics and Business Computing there. I’ve never seen you around before, though…” 

Heat flashes up to the nape of Peter’s neck as Harry musters him with interest. Only now he realizes that he’s still holding onto Harry’s hand, so he quickly lets go. “Yeah, um… I tend to be invisible."

“Hard to believe,” Harry mumbles vaguely before picking up his bottle. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Peter Parker. Here’s to sharing commonalities – going to ESU and being friends with Harley Keener.” Without taking his eyes off of Peter, he takes a large sip from his Coke.

It makes Peter slightly uncomfortable, so he turns his head to look for Harley. He spots him not too far away from them, wildly gesticulating while talking to some of his friends. 

“Where do you know Harley from?”

“Hm?” Peter focuses his attention back on Harry, who looks at him expectantly. “Oh, um… We both work at Stark Industries.”

“Ah, cool,” Harry says, hesitating before asking, “Sorry for being so straightforward, but are you… _with_ him?”

It’s clear what he’s referring to. “What? N-No, nonono, not at all,” Peter says, vehemently shaking his head. “What makes you think that?”

Harry shrugs his shoulders. “Because he’s barely home for a week and hasn’t mentioned you yet, so I thought… Maybe you two like to share ‘after work drinks’, if you know what I mean.”

 _Dear god._ “N-No, he’s just… he’s just a workmate, really.”

“Good to know,” Harry grins, leaning forward so that their knees touch. “To be honest, it would’ve surprised me. You’re not his type, but I still had to make sure. I don’t want to be caught fishing in his territory, you know?”

“What?” Peter asks dully.

“I’m trying to tell you that I think you’re cute, dumbass,” Harry snorts, resting his left hands on Peter’s right thigh. “In contrast to Harley, I appreciate smart, cute boys like you.”

When Harry leans forward, Peter’s forced out of his shocked state. He quickly puts his hand against Harry’s chest to stop him from coming any closer and leans back. “L-Look, I’m… really flattered and you’re very nice and all, but I, um, I have a boyfriend.”

Pursing his lips in disappointment, Harry sits up straight. “Really? Aw, dang it. I mean, I can’t say I’m surprised, but…” Voice trailing off, the boy sighs deeply, but then, his lips curl into a suggestive smile. “It could be our secret.”

A knot tightens in Peter’s chest. “A-As I said, I’m really flattered, but I’m not like that. I’m very sorry if I gave you a wrong impression or anything, but I’m perfectly happy with my boyfriend. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, relax, it’s fine,” Harry says, removing his hand from Peter’s leg. For a quick second, his eyes flicker over Peter’s shoulder before he focuses back on his face, smiling a little stiffly. 

“What are you two talking about?” comes an all too familiar voice from behind Peter. The second he turns around and looks right into Harley’s dark, slightly narrowed eyes, he feels an odd tingle running down his spine. _Did he see Harry putting his hand on his thigh?_

“We um–” Peter starts, but Harry interrupts him.

“–were just flirting a little,” Harry grins, taking another sip from his Coke. 

_Shit._ Panic surges through Peter as he desperately shakes his head. “He was just– I told him that I have a boyfriend.” 

He looks at Harry pleadingly, who exchanges a glance with Harley before shrugging his shoulders. “Yeah, he turned me down right away.”

“I see,” Harley says gravely, his jaw tightening as he glares at Harry. “Can we talk for a sec?” 

And suddenly, Peter gets a sense of foreboding that makes his stomach churn. Did Harley _ask_ Harry to hit on him? Just like… he might have set Peter up regarding the dress code after all?

Lifting his hand to awkwardly scratch the back of his head, Harry nods and stands up. “Sure. Um... it was nice meeting you, Peter. Have a fun evening.”

Without another look at Peter, Harley and Harry walk away, leaving the boy at the bar. Feeling betrayed, Peter watches them vanish somewhere in the crowd, struggling to hold back tears. _This is bad._ If what he thinks is true, then Harley is still out to get him.

And he has no fucking idea what to do about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you scream at the screen “Here’s what you do, Peter: TELL TONY!” - don’t forget that Peter doesn’t want to cause drama and drive a wedge between father and son. One of the problems of this fic is that Peter’s way too nice 🙈 But you’ll see what happens.


End file.
